Congress Approves $900 Billion Coronavirus Relief Package
Published: 12.22.2020
Late Monday night, December 21, 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (HR 133). President Trump is expected to sign the Bill into law quickly to allow relief funds to begin to be released.The 5,593-page stimulus bill provides much needed COVID-19 relief and has several provisions that will impact our industry. Overall highlights of the Bill can be found below.
Most notable provisions for our industry are:
- a ban on surprise billing,
- disclosure of broker compensation, and
- the ability for employees to roll over funds from Flexible Spending Accounts.
- an additional $284 billion for Paycheck Protection Program loans
- $600 direct stimulus checks for individuals making up to $75,000, $1,200 per married couple making up to $150,000, and $600 per dependent child
- an additional $300 per week for all workers receiving unemployment benefits through March 2021
- $69 billion for vaccine distribution, coronavirus testing and contact tracing
Text of HR 133: Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (PDF)
On Monday, December 21, 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act (HR 133) of 2021. The bill contains 5,593 pages.
Provisions relevant to employee benefits include:
Division BB -- Private Health Insurance and Public Health Provisions (begins on page 4095)
Title I -- No Surprises Act
- Section 102 -- Health insurance requirements regarding surprise medical billing
- Section 103 -- Determination of out-of-network rates to be paid by health plans; Independent dispute resolution process
- Section 104 -- Health care provider requirements regarding surprise medical billing
- Section 105 -- Ending surprise air ambulance bills
- Section 106 -- Reporting requirements regarding air ambulance services
- Section 107 -- Transparency regarding in-network and out-of-network deductibles and out-of-pocket limitations
- Section 108 -- Implementing protections against provider discrimination
- Section 109 -- Reports
- Section 110 -- Consumer protections through application of health plan external review in cases of certain surprise medical bills
- Section 111 -- Consumer protections through health plan requirement for fair and honest advance cost estimate
- Section 112 -- Patient protections through transparency and patient-provider dispute resolution
- Section 113 -- Ensuring continuity of care
- Section 114 -- Maintenance of price comparison tool
- Section 115 -- State All Payer Claims Databases
- Section 116 -- Protecting patients and improving the accuracy of provider directory information
- Section 117 -- Advisory committee on ground ambulance and patient billing
- Section 118 -- Implementation funding
- Section 201 -- Increasing transparency by removing gag clauses on price and quality information
- Section 202 -- Disclosure of direct and indirect compensation for brokers and consultants to employer-sponsored health plans and enrollees in plans on the individual market
- Section 203 -- Strengthening parity in mental health and substance use disorder benefits
- Section 204 -- Reporting on pharmacy benefits and drug costs
Title I -- Extension of Certain Expiring Provisions
- Subtitle B -- Extended through 2025:
- Section 119 -- Employer credit for paid family and medical leave
- Section 120 -- Exclusion for certain employer payments of student loans
- Subtitle C -- Extension of certain other provisions
- Section 134 -- Credit for health insurance costs of eligible individuals
- Section 207 -- Extension and modification of employee retention and rehiring tax credit
- Section 208 -- Minimum age for distributions during working retirement
- Section 209 -- Temporary Rule preventing partial plan termination
- Section 214 -- Temporary special rules for health and dependent care flexible spending arrangements
- Section 302 -- Special disaster-related rules for use of retirement funds
If you have any questions, please contact your Savoy Sales Team.
