Excepted Fertility Benefits (Limited Excepted Benefits Rule)
Current understanding
Treasury, IRS, DOL, and HHS jointly proposed a rule that would create a new category of ‘limited excepted benefits’ for fertility benefits, exempting employer-sponsored fertility coverage from major group health plan market requirements under HIPAA, the ACA, the No Surprises Act, and related federal laws under ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, and the Public Health Service Act. For employers, this would enable standalone fertility benefit offerings without triggering full group health plan compliance obligations; for workers, it expands potential access to fertility coverage but outside the consumer protection framework that governs standard group health plans. Status: proposed rule.