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On March 28, 2019, a federal judge ruled that parts of the Trump administration’s 2018 final rule on association health plans were invalid. The U.S. Department of Labor has been directed to reconsider how the rest of the rule is affected by this ruling.  

The court specifically struck down two parts of the rule:

The provision defining “employer” to include associations of disparate employers; and
The provision expanding membership in these associations to include working owners without employees.

The ruling found that the DOL exceeded its authority under ERISA in how it defined employers.

Most of the plans ABC knows are currently being contemplated rely on state regulations and will not actually be affected by this court ruling. However, there are several that do make some use of the Federal AHP law changes and may need to go back to the drawing board.  

Contact Sam Melamed at [email protected] with any questions or concerns.