Employee Benefits Security Administration – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document is a request for information regarding the definition of ``employer'' in section 3(5) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). The document mainly seeks comments on whether to amend our regulations to facilitate the sponsorship of ``open MEPs'' by persons acting indirectly in the interests of unrelated employers whose employees would receive benefits under such arrangements. The term ``open MEP'' in this document refers to a single defined contribution retirement plan that covers employees of multiple unrelated employers. The information received in response to the questions in this document may form the basis of future rulemaking under ERISA. This request for information was triggered in part by public comments received on a related rulemaking action under section 3(5) of ERISA, with respect to which a final rule is being published elsewhere in this issue of this Federal Register. This document also solicits information on other issues raised by these commenters, but which were considered beyond the scope of that final rule.

This document contains notice of pendency before the Department of Labor (the Department) of a proposed temporary five-year individual exemption from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). If this proposed exemption is granted, certain entities with specified relationships to CSAG will not be precluded from relying on the exemptive relief provided by Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84- 14.

This document contains final regulations that revise the procedures for filing apprenticeship and training plan notices and ``top hat'' plan statements with the Secretary of Labor. The final regulations require electronic submission of these notices and statements, as opposed to paper filings. The final regulations will make filing these notices and statements easier and lower regulatory burdens on these plans. The final regulations also will enable the Department of Labor to make reported data more readily available to participants and beneficiaries and other interested members of the public than in the past.

The Department of Labor (the Department), in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format. The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is soliciting comments on the proposed renewal of the information collection requests (ICRs) contained in the documents described below. A copy of the ICRs may be obtained by contacting the office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. ICRs also are available at reginfo.gov (https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain).

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved certain collections of information, listed in the Supplementary Information section below, following EBSA's submission of requests for such approvals under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). This notice describes the approved or re-approved information collections and provides their OMB control numbers and current expiration dates.

This document contains a notice of exemption issued by the Department of Labor (the Department) from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). The exemption affects the ability of certain entities with specified relationships to UBS, UBS Securities Japan, and UBS France to continue to rely upon relief provided by Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-14.

This document contains notice of pendency before the Department of Labor (the Department) of a proposed temporary one-year individual exemption from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). If this proposed exemption is granted, certain entities with specified relationships to UBS will not be precluded from relying on the exemptive relief provided by Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84- 14.

This document contains notices of pendency before the Department of Labor (the Department) of proposed exemptions from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). If granted, these proposed exemptions allow designated parties to engage in transactions that would otherwise be prohibited provided the conditions stated there in are met. This notice includes the following proposed exemptions: D- 11924, The Les Schwab Tire Centers of Washington, Inc., the Les Schwab Tire Centers of Boise, Inc., and the Les Schwab Tire Centers of Portland, Inc.; D-11918, Seventy Seven Energy Inc. Retirement & Savings Plan; D-11940, Tidewater Savings and Retirement Plan; and D-11947, Principal Life Insurance Company (PLIC) and its Affiliates.

These rules finalize, with changes based on public comments, interim final rules concerning religious exemptions and accommodations regarding coverage of certain preventive services issued in the Federal Register on October 13, 2017. These rules expand exemptions to protect religious beliefs for certain entities and individuals whose health plans are subject to a mandate of contraceptive coverage through guidance issued pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. These rules do not alter the discretion of the Health Resources and Services Administration, a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to maintain the guidelines requiring contraceptive coverage where no regulatorily recognized objection exists. These rules also leave in place an ``accommodation'' process as an optional process for certain exempt entities that wish to use it voluntarily. These rules do not alter multiple other federal programs that provide free or subsidized contraceptives for women at risk of unintended pregnancy.

This document sets forth proposed rules to expand opportunities for working men and women and their families to access affordable, quality healthcare through proposed changes to regulations under various provisions of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code (Code) regarding health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) and other account-based group health plans. (For simplicity, this preamble generally refers only to HRAs, but references to HRAs should also be considered to include other account-based group health plans, unless indicated otherwise.) Specifically, these proposed rules allow integrating HRAs with individual health insurance coverage, if certain conditions are met. The proposed rules also set forth conditions under which certain HRAs would be recognized as limited excepted benefits. Also, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) propose rules regarding premium tax credit (PTC) eligibility for individuals offered coverage under an HRA integrated with individual health insurance coverage. In addition, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposes a clarification to provide plan sponsors with assurance that the individual health insurance coverage the premiums of which are reimbursed by an HRA or a qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangement (QSEHRA) does not become part of an ERISA plan, provided certain conditions are met. Finally, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposes rules that would provide a special enrollment period in the individual market for individuals who gain access to an HRA integrated with individual health insurance coverage or who are provided a QSEHRA. The goal of these proposed rules is to expand the flexibility and use of HRAs to provide more Americans with additional options to obtain quality, affordable healthcare. The proposed rules would affect employees and their family members; employers, employee organizations, and other plan sponsors; group health plans; health insurance issuers; and purchasers of individual health insurance coverage.

The Department of Labor proposes a regulation under title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations to expand access to affordable quality retirement saving options by clarifying the circumstances under which an employer group or association or a professional employer organization (PEO) may sponsor a workplace retirement plan. In particular, the proposed regulation clarifies that employer groups or associations and PEOs can, when satisfying certain criteria, constitute ``employers'' within the meaning of section 3(5) of ERISA for purposes of establishing or maintaining an individual account ``employee pension benefit plan'' within the meaning of ERISA section 3(2). As an ``employer,'' a group or association can sponsor a defined contribution retirement plan for its members, as can a PEO sponsor a plan for client employers (collectively referred to as ``MEPs'' unless otherwise specified). The proposed regulation would allow different businesses to join a MEP, either through a group or association or through a PEO. The proposal would also permit certain working owners without employees to participate in a MEP sponsored by a group or association. The proposal would primarily affect groups or associations of employers, PEOs, plan participants, and plan beneficiaries. The proposal would not affect whether groups, associations, or PEOs assume joint-employment relationships with member-employers or client employers. But the proposal may affect banks, insurance companies, securities broker- dealers, record keepers, and other commercial enterprises that provide retirement-plan products and services.

This document contains a final regulation under Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) that establishes additional criteria under ERISA section 3(5) for determining when employers may join together in a group or association of employers that will be treated as the ``employer'' sponsor of a single multiple- employer ``employee welfare benefit plan'' and ``group health plan,'' as those terms are defined in Title I of ERISA. By establishing a more flexible ``commonality of interest'' test for the employer members than the Department of Labor (DOL or Department) had adopted in sub- regulatory interpretive rulings under ERISA section 3(5), and otherwise removing undue restrictions on the establishment and maintenance of Association Health Plans (AHPs) under ERISA, the regulation facilitates the adoption and administration of AHPs and expands access to affordable health coverage, especially for employees of small employers and certain self-employed individuals. At the same time, the regulation continues to distinguish employment-based plans, the focal point of Title I of ERISA, from commercial insurance programs and other service provider arrangements. The final rule also sets out the criteria that would permit, solely for purposes of Title I of ERISA, certain working owners of an incorporated or unincorporated trade or business, including partners in a partnership, without any common law employees, to qualify as employers for purposes of participating in a bona fide group or association of employers sponsoring an AHP and also to be treated as employees with respect to a trade, business or partnership for purposes of being covered by the AHP. The regulation would affect AHPs, bona fide groups or associations of employers sponsoring such plans, participants and beneficiaries with health coverage under an AHP, health insurance issuers, and purchasers of health insurance not purchased through AHPs.

The Department of Labor (the Department), in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA 95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format. The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is soliciting comments on the proposed extension of the information collection requests (ICRs) contained in the documents described below. A copy of the ICRs may be obtained by contacting the office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. ICRs also are available at reginfo.gov (https:// www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain).

This document contains exemptions issued by the Department of Labor (the Department) from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). This notice includes the following: 2018-01, Health Management Associates, Inc. Retirement Savings Plan and The Mooresville Retirement Savings Plan, D-11929 and D-11930; 2018-02, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, D-11869; 2018-03, Russell Investment Management, LLC (RIM), Russell Investments Capital, LLC (RiCap), and Their Affiliates, D- 11916; 2018-04, Toledo Electrical Joint Apprenticeship & Training Fund, D-11867; 2018-05, EXCO Resources, Inc. 401(k) Plan, D-11821; 2018-06, The Grossberg, Yochelson, Fox & Beyda LLP Profit Sharing Plan, D-11895.

This rule contains proposals amending the definition of short- term, limited-duration insurance for purposes of its exclusion from the definition of individual health insurance coverage. This action is being taken to lengthen the maximum period of short-term, limited- duration insurance, which will provide more affordable consumer choice for health coverage.

This document contains a proposed regulation under Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) that would broaden the criteria under ERISA section 3(5) for determining when employers may join together in an employer group or association that is treated as the ``employer'' sponsor of a single multiple-employer ``employee welfare benefit plan'' and ``group health plan'' as those terms are defined in Title I of ERISA. By treating the association itself as the employer sponsor of a single plan, the regulation would facilitate the adoption and administration of such arrangements. The regulation would modify the definition of ``employer,'' in part, by creating a more flexible ``commonality of interest'' test for the employer members than the Department of Labor (DOL or Department) had adopted in sub- regulatory interpretive rulings under ERISA section 3(5). At the same time, the regulation would continue to distinguish employment-based plans, the focal point of Title I of ERISA, from mere commercial insurance programs and administrative service arrangements marketed to employers. For purposes of Title I of ERISA, the proposal would also permit working owners of an incorporated or unincorporated trade or business, including partners in a partnership, to elect to act as employers for purposes of participating in an employer group or association sponsoring a health plan and also to be treated as employees with respect to a trade, business or partnership for purposes of being covered by the employer group's or association's health plan. The goal of the rulemaking is to expand access to affordable health coverage, especially among small employers and self-employed individuals, by removing undue restrictions on the establishment and maintenance of association health plans under ERISA. The proposed regulation would affect such association health plans, health coverage under these health plans, groups and associations of employers sponsoring such plans, participants and beneficiaries with health coverage under these plans, health insurance issuers, and purchasers of health insurance not purchased through association health plans.

This document corrects two errors in the preamble of a document that appeared in the Federal Register on November 29, 2017.

This document delays for ninety (90) daysthrough April 1, 2018the applicability of a final rule amending the claims procedure requirements applicable to ERISA-covered employee benefit plans that provide disability benefits (Final Rule). The Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on December 19, 2016, became effective on January 18, 2017, and was scheduled to become applicable on January 1, 2018. The delay announced in this document is necessary to enable the Department of Labor to carefully consider comments and data as part of its effort, pursuant to Executive Order 13777, to examine regulatory alternatives that meet its objectives of ensuring the full and fair review of disability benefit claims while not imposing unnecessary costs and adverse consequences.

The Department of Labor (the Department), in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA 95), provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its information collection requirements and minimize the reporting burden on the public and helps the public understand the Department's information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format. Currently, the Employee Benefits Security Administration is soliciting comments on a revision of the Coverage of Certain Preventive Services under the Affordable Care ActPrivate Sector information collection request (ICR) to reflect the Executive Order signed on May 4, 2017, ``Executive Order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty.'' The order declares, regarding ``Conscience Protections with Respect to Preventive-Care Mandate,'' that ``[t]he Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall consider issuing amended regulations, consistent with applicable law, to address conscience-based objections to the preventive-care mandate promulgated under section 300gg-13(a)(4) of title 42, United States Code.'' A copy of the information collection request (ICR) may be obtained by contacting the office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

The United States has a long history of providing conscience protections in the regulation of health care for entities and individuals with objections based on religious beliefs and moral convictions. These interim final rules expand exemptions to protect religious beliefs for certain entities and individuals whose health plans are subject to a mandate of contraceptive coverage through guidance issued pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. These rules do not alter the discretion of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a component of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to maintain the guidelines requiring contraceptive coverage where no regulatorily recognized objection exists. These rules also leave the ``accommodation'' process in place as an optional process for certain exempt entities that wish to use it voluntarily. These rules do not alter multiple other Federal programs that provide free or subsidized contraceptives for women at risk of unintended pregnancy.