The Obama administration’s health care reform legislation suffered an apparent casualty last week when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) indicated it wouldn’t pursue implementation of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program (also known as the CLASS Act). In a letter to the U.S. Congress about the CLASS Act, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stated that she did “not see a viable path forward for CLASS implementation at this time.” Sebelius came to this conclusion after the HHS reviewed a comprehensive analysis of the CLASS program.

The CLASS Act was a part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that was designed to create better long-term-care insurance options for individuals. According to the law, all CLASS benefits had to be completely funded through enrollee premiums without any taxpayer subsidy. The legislation also mandated that the program must be actuarially sound and financially solvent for 75 years.

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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced that almost 2,000 employers were accepted into the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program created by the health care reform legislation. These employers will start receiving reimbursements for employee claims from the program this fall.

The approved applicants represent the broad spectrum of the economy, including businesses (32 percent), state and local governments (26 percent), union sponsors (22 percent), schools and other educational institutions (14 percent), and nonprofits (five percent).

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The U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services, and the Treasury recently published interim final regulations in the Federal Register that implement the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). These regulations are effective April 5, 2010, and apply to plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2010.

The MHPAEA applies to most employers with more than 50 employees and requires those that offer mental health or substance use disorder benefits to make sure they’re in parity with the medical and surgical benefits they offer. The departments issued the regulations to further clarify the MHPAEA, and the regulations are supposed to update certain defined terms and examples and demonstrate how the expanded rules apply.

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By Michelle Sullivan, Holland & Hart LLP

Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, issued a statement on October 2 indicating that employers awaiting guidance before implementing changes to medical plans required by the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 should not expect regulations to be issued until January 2010 — after the law goes into effect for calendar-year plans. In the absence of regulations, plan sponsors should make a reasonable “good-faith” effort to adhere to the law’s intent.

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