The Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury released FAQ Part XXII addressing the compliance of premium reimbursement arrangements with the Affordable Care Act. Sponsors of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), health flexible spending arrangements (health FSAs) or other arrangements that reimburse health premiums should confirm that reimbursements are not being made for individual coverage premiums.

Specifically, the guidance provided in this set of three questions states that:

• Employers cannot offer employees cash to reimburse the purchase of an individual policy.
• Employers cannot offer employees at risk of high claims a choice between the group health plan or cash to obtain individual insurance.
• Employers cannot cancel group policies, setup a Code section 105 reimbursement plan using brokers to help employees select individual policies and allow employees to access premium tax credits.