Definition of “Employer”-Association Health Plans

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration 29 CFR Part 2510 RIN 1210-AC16 AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor. ACTION: Final rule, rescission. SUMMARY: This document rescinds the Department of Labor's (Department or DOL) 2018 rule entitled “Definition of Employer Under Section 3(5) of ERISA—Association Health Plans” (2018 AHP Rule). The 2018 AHP Rule established an alternative set of criteria from those set forth in the Department's pre-2018 AHP Rule (pre-rule) guidance for determining when a group or association of employers is acting “indirectly in the interest of an employer” under section 3(5) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) for purposes of establishing an association health plan (AHP) as a multiple employer group health plan. The 2018 AHP Rule was a significant departure from the Department's longstanding pre-rule guidance on the definition of “employer” under ERISA. This departure substantially weakened the Department's traditional criteria in a manner that would have enabled the creation of commercial AHPs functioning effectively as health insurance issuers. The Department now believes that the core provisions of the 2018 AHP Rule are, at a minimum, not consistent with the best reading of ERISA's statutory requirements governing group health plans. DATES: Effective date: This rule is effective on July 1, 2024. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: S…