The IRS recently announced it was delaying the nondiscrimination rules provision of the healthcare reform law, which should come as welcome news to many employers.
The nondiscrimination provision of the reform law prohibits all group health plans (except grandfathered ones) from offering current or former execs healthcare coverage that isn’t available to all workers within the company — a fairly common practice for many companies.
Under reform, any healthcare coverage or benefits for current or former executives (in the top 25 percentile of the company by pay) that isn’t available to non-execs is prohibited.
Previously, only self-funded plans had to adhere to the nondiscrimination rules.
IRS Notice 2011-1 says employers won’t have to comply with the nondiscrimination requirement until federal guidance on it has been issued. No date has been offered as to when the guidance will be released.
Even though this requirement has been delayed, employers should still get a jump preparing for compliance down the road. One way: Talk to your provider about changing your healthcare plan so equal coverage is offered to all employees.
