Saul Ewing attorneys have been helping clients understand and comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) since its enactment in 2010. Our ACA Consulting Team consists of experienced employee benefits attorneys who understand how the ACA interacts with laws such as COBRA and HIPAA. Our team tracks the case law and thousands of pages of ACA guidance issued by federal agencies to develop compliance plans tailored to individual businesses and organizations. We represent applicable large employers (ALEs) subject to the ACA as well as organizations that become ALEs due to growth or acquisitions. We advise these employers on new ACA and group health plan requirements such as benefit mandates, coverage requirements, reporting obligations, and disclosure requirements as new legislation and regulations are implemented.
In addition, we help clients understand the legal risks associated with health care coverage decisions. These risks include the imposition of “pay or play” penalties, whistleblower actions and excise taxes. Should litigation arise, discussions between an employers' benefits team and our attorneys about workforce management and other strategic business decisions related to ACA compliance can remain confidential due to the attorney/client privilege.
The ACA Consulting Team provides counsel to closely-held businesses as well as multi-national corporations. Representative engagements include:
The team’s legal services span a range of needs related to health care law. This includes helping businesses interpret “pay or play” rules. Team members also review and draft an array of documents affected by ACA regulations, including enrollment materials, group health plan documents and summary plan descriptions. We help employers negotiate agreements with health care coverage service providers, including administrative only service providers for self-insured plans. In addition, attorneys in the practice have experience providing guidance on controlled group analyses critical to the determination of “large employer” status.
