Definition of “Employer”-Association Health Plans

요약

This document proposes to rescind the Department of Labor's (Department or DOL) 2018 rule entitled "Definition of Employer-- Association Health Plans" (2018 AHP Rule). The 2018 AHP Rule establishes an alternative set of criteria from those set forth in the Department's 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's alternative criteria were set aside in large part by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in New York v. United States Department of Labor. The district court found the bona fide association and working owner provisions in the rule to be an unreasonable interpretation of ERISA, inconsistent with congressional intent that ERISA applies to employee benefits arising out of employment relationships. The Department, after further review of the relevant statutory language, judicial decisions, and pre-rule guidance, and further consideration of ERISA's statutory purposes and rela