Executive Orders May Be Asking Too Much Of Regulators

On October 12, President Trump signed Executive Order 13813, asking the Department of Labor (DOL) to consider allowing small employers to join together to self-insure or purchase insurance as a large group (creating "Association Health Plans"); asking the IRS, DOL, and HHS to expand the usability of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs); and asking to expand the use of short-term limited duration insurance (the latter of which is not the focus of this blog). On that same date, the IRS updated its website, adding a statement that individual tax returns filed in 2018 (for the 2017 tax year) will be considered incomplete if information about individual and family medical coverages is not provided.