COVID-19 Stimulus Package – Employee Benefit Provisions to Watch

By Stephanie Henkenius

Principal, Mercer’s Center for Health Innovation and the US Healthcare Reform team

Late Wednesday, the Senate unanimously passed a coronavirus stimulus package that includes the much-anticipated cash assistance the government will send to individual Americans. As with most financial packages, the bill includes a grab bag of provisions. Check out these articles from Politico and The Hill for an overview.

As I’m drafting this post, my colleagues in Mercer’s Law & Policy group are working on a GRIST article that outlines the bill’s provisions related to employee benefits. Once the bill passes the House and is signed by the President, you’ll find their GRIST on our Law & Policy page. In the meantime, here’s a list of some of the provisions we’re following:

No cost-sharing telemedicine services for all reasons, not just COVID-19 screening. This coverage would not interfere with an individual’s ability to make or receive HSA contributions.
Allows use of HSA, FSA or HRA funds to purchase over-the-counter drugs without a prescription.
Expands the list of COVID-19 tests that must be covered with no cost-sharing, preserves network agreements with respect to pricing of those tests and addresses pricing when network agreements are not in place.
Mandates coverage of COVID-19 preventive services -- those rated an “A” or “B” service by the US Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF) via the ACA preventive services provision.

There were some notable items not included in Phase 3:

Does NOT mandate group health plans to provide coverage for COVID-19 treatment without participant cost-sharing.
Does NOT include federal COBRA subsidies.
Does NOT expand the emergency paid sick leave or expanded FMLA leave mandates to employers with 500 or more employees.
Does NOT include surprise medical billing provisions.

But stay tuned, because we could see these provisions in a future stimulus package. And, don’t forget to watch our Law & Policy page for the full update.