Agency Information Collection Activities; Request for Public Comment

AGENCY:

Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Department of Labor.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Labor (the Department), in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and continuing collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format. The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is soliciting comments on the proposed extension of the information collection requests (ICRs) contained in the documents described below. A copy of the ICRs may be obtained by contacting the office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. ICRs also are available at reginfo.gov ( http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain ).

DATES:

Written comments must be submitted to the office shown in the Addresses section on or before September 9, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration, Office of Research and Analysis, Attention: PRA Officer, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5718, Washington, DC 20210, or ebsa.opr@dol.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Current Actions

This notice requests public comment on the Department's request for extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of ICRs contained in the rules and prohibited transaction exemptions described below. This action is not related to any pending rulemakings and the Department is not proposing any changes to the existing ICRs at this time. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a valid OMB control number. A summary of the ICRs and the burden estimates follows:

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Bank Collective Investment Funds, Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 1991-38.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0082.

Affected Public: Private sector, Businesses or other for-profits, Not-for-profit institutions.

Respondents: 9,332.

Responses: 9,332.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,555.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.

Description: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (PTE) 91-38 provides an exemption from the restrictions of sections 406(a), 406(b)(2) and 407(a) of ERISA and the taxes imposed by section 4975(a) and (b) of the Code by reason of section 4975(c)(1)(A), (B), (C), or (D) of the Code for certain transactions between a bank collective investment fund in which an employee benefit plan has invested assets and persons who are parties in interest to the employee benefit plan, as long as the interest of the plan together with the interests of any other plans maintained by the same employer or employee organization in the collective investment fund does not exceed 10% of the total assets in the collective investment fund. In addition, the bank managing the common investment fund must not itself be a party in interest to the participating plan, the terms of the transaction must be at least as favorable to the collective investment fund as those available in an arm's length transaction with an unrelated party, and the bank must maintain records of the transactions for six years and make the records available for inspection to specified interested persons (including the Department and the Internal Revenue Service).

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0082. The current approval is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: PTE 1990-1; Insurance Company Pooled Separate Accounts.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0083.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits.

Respondents: 108.

Responses: 1,080.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 108.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.

Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 90-1 provides an exemption from the restrictions of ERISA section 406 and Code section 4975, in part, for certain transactions between insurance company pooled separate accounts and parties in interest to plans that invest assets in the pooled separate accounts. PTE 90-1 provides an exemption for certain transactions between a party in interest with respect to a plan and an insurance company pooled separate account in which the plan has an interest or any acquisition or holding by the pooled separate account of employer securities or employer real property, provided that the party in interest is not the insurance company (or an affiliate of the insurance company) which holds the plan assets in its pooled separate account or any other separate account of the insurance company and that the amount of the plan's investment in the separate account does not exceed certain specified percentages (or that the separate account is a specialized account with a policy of investing, and invests, substantially all of its assets in certain specified short-term obligations).

PTE 90-1 also provides specific, additional relief for the following types of transactions with a party in interest: (1) furnishing goods to an insurance company pooled separate account, (2) leasing of real property of the pooled separate account, (3) transactions involving persons who are parties in interest to a plan solely because they are service providers or provide nondiscretionary services to the plan; (4) the insurance company's provision of any services provided to an insurance company pooled separate account (in which the plan has an interest) by the insurance company or its affiliate in connection with the management of the real property investments of the pooled separate account, and (5) furnishing of services, facilities, and goods incidental to the services and facilities by a place of public accommodations owned by the separate account.

In addition to other specified conditions, the insurance company intending to rely on the general exemption or any of the specific exemptions must maintain records of the transactions to which the exemption applies for a period of six years from the date of the transaction and make the records available on request to specified interested persons (including plan fiduciaries, participant and beneficiaries, contributing employers, the Department, and the Internal Revenue Service).

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0083. The current approval is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Foreign Currency Transactions, Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 1994-20.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0085.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, Not-for-profit institutions.

Respondents: 242.

Responses: 1,210.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 202.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.

Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) PTE 94-20 provides an exemption for banks, broker-dealers, and their affiliates that are parties in interest to a plan to engage in foreign currency transactions with the plan, provided the transaction is directed by a plan fiduciary that is independent of the bank, broker-dealer, and any affiliate thereof and that certain other conditions are satisfied. To protect the interests of participants and beneficiaries of the employee benefit plan, the exemption requires, among other things, that a bank, broker-dealer, and any affiliate wishing to rely on the exemption (1) maintain written policies and procedures applicable to trading in foreign currencies with an employee benefit plan; (2) provide a written confirmation statement of each foreign currency transaction to the independent plan fiduciary directing the transaction for the plan; and (3) maintain records of the transactions for a period of six years from the date of the transaction and make them available upon request to specified interested persons, including plan fiduciaries, participants and beneficiaries, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department.

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0085. The current approval is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Definition of Plan Assets—Participant Contributions.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0100.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits.

Respondents: 251.

Responses: 251.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 8.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $1,685.

Description: The Department's regulation at 29 CFR 2510.3-102 states that monies that a participant pays to, or has withheld by, an employer for contribution to an employee benefit plan become “plan assets” for purposes of Title I of ERISA and the related prohibited transaction provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) as of the earliest date on which such monies can be reasonably segregated from the employer's general assets.

The regulation also establishes specific maximum time limits for contributions becoming plan assets that apply to employee pension benefit plans (with a special rule for SIMPLE IRA plans) and employee welfare benefit plans. The regulation sets a maximum time limit of 15 business days following the end of the month in which the participant contribution amounts are received or withheld by the employer. The regulation includes a procedure through which an employer receiving or withholding participant contributions for an employee pension benefit plan may obtain a 10-business-day extension of the 15-day maximum time period for contributions received or withheld in a single month if certain requirements, including information collection requirements, are met.

The regulation requires, among other things, that the employer provide written notice to plan participants within five business days after the end of the extension period and the employer's transfer of the contributions to the plan, for which the employer elected to take the extension that month. The notice must explain why the employer could not transfer the participant contributions within the maximum time period, state that the participant contributions in question have in fact been transmitted to the plan, and provide the date on which this was done. The employer must also provide a copy of the participant notice to the Secretary, along with a certification that the notice was distributed to participants and that the other requirements under the extension procedure were met, within five business days after the end of the extension period.

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0100. The current approval is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Collective Investment Funds Conversion Transactions, Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 1997-41.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0104.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, Not-for-profit institutions.

Respondents: 50.

Responses: 105.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 1,760.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $585,299.

Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 97-41 permits an employee benefit plan to purchase shares of a registered open-end investment company (mutual fund) in exchange for plan assets transferred in-kind from a collective investment fund (CIF) maintained by a bank or plan adviser, even though the bank or plan adviser, or an affiliate thereof, is the investment adviser for the mutual fund and also serves as a fiduciary for the plan, provided that the purchase and transfer is in connection with a complete withdrawal of the plan's investment in the CIF and certain other conditions are met.

Among other conditions, the exemption requires the bank or plan adviser to provide an independent fiduciary of the plan with advance written notice of the proposed transfer and full written disclosure of information concerning the mutual fund, including the current prospectus; disclosure of the fees to be charged to, or paid by the plan and funds to the bank or plan adviser, including the nature and extent of any differential between the rates of the fees; the reasons why the bank or plan adviser considers the in-kind transfers appropriate for the plan; and a statement of whether there are any limitations applicable to the bank or plan adviser with respect to which plan assets may be invested in shares of the mutual fund and, if so, the nature of such limitations; and the identity of securities that will have to be valued for the transfer. The independent fiduciary must give prior written approval of the transfer (and written approval of any electronic transmission of subsequent confirmations from the bank or plan adviser, if the independent fiduciary elects to receive such statements in that form); and the bank or adviser must send written (or electronic, if approved) confirmation of the transfer. Subsequent to a transfer, the bank or plan adviser must provide the independent fiduciary of the plan with updated prospectuses at least annually for mutual funds in which the plan remains invested; the bank or plan adviser must also provide, upon the independent fiduciary's request, a report or statement of all fees paid by the mutual fund to the bank or plan adviser, which may be in the form of the most recent financial report.

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0104. The current approval is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption for Cross-Trades of Securities by Index and Model-Driven Funds (PTCE 2002-12).

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0115.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits.

Respondents: 60.

Responses: 840.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 855.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $1,290.

Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2002-12 permits private-sector pension plans and the Federal Thrift Savings Plan to buy and sell securities between certain types of investment funds that participate in passive or model-driven “cross-trading” programs pursuant to objective criteria specified in the exemption. The exemption extends only to crossing-trading conducted according to index- or model-driven programs that meet the specific requirements of the exemption, which generally seeks to create objective criteria sufficient to confine or eliminate the manager's discretion to affect the identity or amount of securities to be cross-traded and the timing of cross-trades. The exemption also covers cross-trades among such funds and certain large accounts that engage managers to carry out a specific portfolio restructuring program in order to convert the large account into a fund, or to otherwise act as a “trading adviser” for such a restructuring program.

The information collection requirements that are conditions for reliance on the class exemption include third-party disclosures and recordkeeping. The exemption does not require any reporting or filing with the Federal government, but the designated records must be made available to specified parties, including the Department and the IRS, upon request.

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0115. The current approval is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Acquisition and Sale of Trust Real Estate Investment Trust Shares by Individual Account Plans Sponsored by Trust Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0124.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits.

Respondents: 67.

Responses: 140,700.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 7,046.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $465,717.

Description: Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2004-07 permits an individual account pension plan sponsored by a real estate investment trust (REIT) within the meaning of Code section 856 that is organized as a trust under applicable law (Trust REIT), or by its affiliates, to purchase, hold and sell publicly traded shares of beneficial interest in the Trust REIT at the direction of the participant or an independent fiduciary. The relief also covers contributions in kind of REIT shares. Such purchases, holdings, and sales would otherwise be prohibited under ERISA section 406 and Code section 4975.

The class exemption requires, among other conditions, that the Trust REIT (or its agent) provide the person who has authority to direct acquisition or sale of REIT shares with the most recent prospectus, quarterly report, and annual report concerning the Trust REIT prior to or immediately after an initial investment in the Trust REIT. The person with such authority may be, under the terms of the plan, either an independent fiduciary or a participant exercising investment rights pertaining to his or her individual account under the plan. Updated versions of the reports must be provided to the directing person as published. The exemption further requires the plan to maintain records concerning investments in a Trust REIT for a period of six years and make them available to interested persons including the Department, Internal Revenue Service, fiduciary or authorized representative of the plan, and participants and beneficiaries. The exemption requires confidentiality procedures, which must be designed to protect against the possibility that an employer may exert undue influence on participants regarding share-related transactions, and the participants and beneficiaries of the plan must be provided with a statement describing the confidentiality procedures in place and the fiduciary responsible for monitoring these procedures.

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0124. The current approval is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 Research Exception Notice.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0136.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, Not-for-profit institutions. Respondents: 48.

Responses: 48.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 12.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $185.

Description: The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), Public Law 110-233, was enacted on May 21, 2008. Title I of GINA amended the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code), and the Social Security Act (SSA) to prohibit discrimination in health coverage based on genetic information. Sections 101 through 103 of Title I of GINA prevent employment-based group health plans and health insurance issuers in the group and individual markets from discriminating based on genetic information and from collecting such information.

GINA and the interim final regulations (29 CFR 2590.702-1(c)(5)) provide an exception to the limitations on requesting or requiring genetic testing that allows a group health plan or group health insurance issuer to request, but not require, a participant or beneficiary to undergo a genetic test if all of the following conditions of the research exception are satisfied.

First, the request must be made pursuant to research that complies with 45 CFR part 46 (or equivalent Federal regulations) and any applicable State or local law or regulations for the protection of human subjects in research. To comply with the informed consent requirements of 45 CFR 46.116(a)(8), a participant must receive a disclosure that participation in the research is voluntary, refusal to participate cannot involve any penalty or loss of benefits to which the participant is otherwise entitled, and the participant may discontinue participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which the participant is entitled (the Participant Disclosure).

Second, the plan or issuer must make the request in writing and must clearly indicate to each participant or beneficiary (or in the case of a minor child, to the legal guardian of such beneficiary) to whom the request is made that compliance with the request is voluntary and noncompliance will have no effect on eligibility for benefits, premium, or contribution amounts.

Third, none of the genetic information collected or acquired as a result of the research may be used for underwriting purposes. Finally, the plan or issuer must complete a copy of the “ Notice of Research Exception under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act” and provide it to the address specified in its instructions. The Notice and instructions are available on the Department's website.

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0136. The current approval is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Opt-in State Balance Bill Process.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0168.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, Not-for-profit institutions.

Respondents: 207.

Responses: 207.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 311.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $106.

Description: The No Surprises Act was enacted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. 116-260). The final rules allow plans to voluntarily opt in to state law that provides for a method for determining the cost-sharing amount or total amount payable under such a plan, where a state has chosen to expand access to such plans, to satisfy their obligations under section 9816(a)-(d) of the Code, section 716(a)-(d) of ERISA, and section 2799A-1(a)-(d) of the PHS Act. A plan that has chosen to opt into a state law must prominently display in its plan materials describing the coverage of out-of-network services a statement that the plan has opted into a specified state law, identify the state (or states), and include a general description of the items and services provided by nonparticipating facilities and providers that are covered by the specified state law.

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0168. The current approval is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Settlement Agreements Between a Plan and a Party in Interest.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0091.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits.

Respondents: 3.

Responses: 810.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 16.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $214.

Description: This information collection request relates to two prohibited transaction class exemptions (PTEs) that the Department has granted, both of which involve settlement agreements. These two exemptions are described below.

PTE 94-71 exempts from certain restrictions of ERISA and certain taxes imposed by the Code, a transaction or activity that is authorized, prior to the execution of the transaction or activity, by a settlement agreement, to which the Department is a party, resulting from an investigation of an employee benefit plan conducted by the Department. The following information collections are among the conditions for the exemption: (1) A party engaging in a settlement agreement arising out of a Department investigation must provide written notice to the affected participants and beneficiaries of the plan at least 30 days prior to entry into the settlement agreement. The notice must contain an objective description of the transaction or activity, the approximate date on which the transaction will occur, the address of the regional or district office of the Department that negotiated the settlement agreement, and a statement informing participants and beneficiaries of their right to forward their comments to such office. (2) A copy of the notice and a description of the method by which it will be distributed must be approved in advance by the regional or district office of the Department which negotiated the settlement.

PTE 2003-39 exempts from certain restrictions of ERISA and certain taxes imposed by the Code, transactions arising out of the settlement of litigation that involve: the release by the plan or a plan fiduciary of legal claims against parties in interest in exchange for payment given by or on behalf of the party in interest to the plan; an extension of credit by a plan to a party interest in connection with a settlement; and the plan's acquisition, holding, and disposition of employer securities received in settlement of litigation. The relief is granted provided certain conditions are met, such as the requirement of an independent fiduciary who has no relationship to, or interest in, any parties in the litigation to authorize the settlement and the settlement terms of the agreement and any extension of credit are reasonable and no less favorable than comparable arm's length agreement. The other conditions include the following information collections: (1) The terms of the settlement must be specifically described in a written agreement or consent decree. (2) The fiduciary acting on behalf of the plan must acknowledge in writing that the person is a fiduciary with respect to the settlement of the litigation. (3) The plan fiduciary must maintain records of the transaction for six years and must disclose the records on request to the Department and other interested persons.

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0091. The current approval is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0118.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits.

Respondents: 3,325.

Responses: 246,918.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 22,202.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $42,175.

Description: This information collection arises from two related actions: the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (the VFC Program) and Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (PTE) 2002-51 (the Exemption). The Department adopted the Program and the Exemption in order to encourage members of the public to voluntarily correct transactions that violate (or are suspected of violating) the fiduciary or prohibited transaction provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Both the Program and the Exemption incorporate information collection requirements in order to protect participants and beneficiaries and enable the Department to oversee the appropriate use of the Program and the Exemption. The information collection provisions of the Program and the Exemption include third-party disclosures, recordkeeping, and disclosures to the Federal government.

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0118. The current approval is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Affordable Care Act Grandfathered Health Plan Disclosure, Recordkeeping Requirement, and Change in Carrier Disclosure.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0140.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, Not-for-profit institutions.

Respondents: 360,479.

Responses: 8,868,468.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 655.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $125,533.

Description: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148, (the Affordable Care Act or the Act) was enacted on March 23, 2010. Section 1251 of the Act provides that certain plans and health insurance coverage in existence as of March 23, 2010, known as grandfathered health plans, are not required to comply with certain statutory provisions in the Act. On November 18, 2015, the Departments issued final regulations the contain the information collections (80 FR 72191).

To maintain its status as a grandfathered health plan, plans must maintain records documenting the terms of the plan in effect on March 23, 2010, and any other documents that are necessary to verify, explain, or clarify status as a grandfathered health plan. The plan must make such records available for examination upon request by participants, beneficiaries, individual policy subscribers, or a State or Federal agency official.

In addition, grandfathered health plans must include a statement in plan materials provided to participants or beneficiaries describing the benefits provided under the plan or health insurance coverage, that the plan or coverage believes it is a grandfathered health plan within the meaning of section 1251 of the Affordable Care Act, that being a grandfathered health plan means that the plan does not include certain consumer protections of the Affordable Care Act, providing contact information for participants to direct questions regarding which protections apply and which protections do not apply to a grandfathered health plan, and what might cause a plan to change from grandfathered health plan status and to file complaints. However, grandfathered health plans are not required to provide the disclosure statement every time they send out a communication, such as an explanation of benefits, to a participant or beneficiary. Instead, grandfathered health plans will comply with this disclosure requirement if they include the model disclosure language provided in the Departments' interim final grandfather regulations (or a similar statement) whenever a summary of the benefits under the plan is provided to participants and beneficiaries.

Finally, grandfathered group health plans that change health insurance issuers must provide the succeeding health insurance issuer (and the succeeding health insurance issuer must require) documentation of plan terms (including benefits, cost sharing, employer contributions, and annual limits) under the prior health insurance coverage sufficient to make a determination whether the standards of paragraph (g)(1) of the final regulations are exceeded.

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0140. The current approval is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Affordable Care Act Advance Notice of Rescission.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0141.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, Not-for-profit institutions.

Respondents: 100.

Responses: 1,744.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 19.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $230.

Description: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148, (the Affordable Care Act or the Act) was enacted on March 23, 2010. Section 2712 of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), as added by the Affordable Care Act, and the Department's final regulation (26 CFR 54.9815-2712, 29 CFR 2590.715-2712, 45 CFR 147.2712) provides rules regarding rescissions of health coverage for group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage (80 FR 72191). Under the statute and final regulations, a group health plan, or a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage, generally must not rescind coverage except in the case of fraud or an intentional misrepresentation of a material fact. This standard applies to all rescissions, whether in the group, or individual insurance market, or for self-insured coverage. These rules also apply regardless of any contestability period of the plan or issuer.

The PHS Act section 2712 mandated a new advance notice requirement when coverage is rescinded where still permissible. Specifically, the second sentence in section 2712 provides that coverage may not be cancelled unless prior notice is provided, and then only as permitted under PHS Act sections 2702(c) and 2742(b). Under these final regulations, even if prior notice is provided, rescission is only permitted in cases of fraud, or an intentional misrepresentation of a material fact as permitted under the cited provisions.

These final regulations provide that a group health plan, or health insurance issuer offering group health insurance coverage, must provide at least 30 days advance notice to an individual before coverage may be rescinded. The notice must be provided regardless of whether the rescission is of group or individual coverage; or whether, in the case of group coverage, the coverage is insured or self-insured, or the rescission applies to an entire group or only to an individual within the group.

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0141. The current approval is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Affordable Care Act Internal Claims and Appeals and External Review Procedures for ERISA Plans.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0144.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, Not-for-profit institutions.

Respondents: 2,007,298.

Responses: 390,574.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 19,047.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $602,026.

Description: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148, (the Affordable Care Act or the Act) was enacted on March 23, 2010. As part of the Act, Congress added Public Health Service Act (the PHS Act) section 2719, which provides rules relating to internal claims and appeals and external review processes. The Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, and the Health and Human Services Department (the Departments) issued final regulations (80 FR 72191) that set forth rules implementing PHS Act section 2719 for internal claims and appeals and external review processes. With respect to internal claims and appeals processes for group health coverage, PHS Act section 2719 and paragraph (b)(2)(i) of the final regulations provide that group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group health insurance coverage must comply with the internal claims and appeals processes set forth in 29 CFR 2560.503-1 (the DOL claims procedure regulation) and update such processes in accordance with standards established by the Secretary of Labor in paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of the regulations.

The DOL claims procedure regulation requires plans to provide every claimant who is denied a claim with a written or electronic notice that contains the specific reasons for denial, a reference to the relevant plan provisions on which the denial is based, a description of any additional information necessary to perfect the claim, and a description of steps to be taken if the participant or beneficiary wishes to appeal the denial. The regulation also requires that any adverse decision upon review be in writing (including electronic means) and include specific reasons for the decision, as well as references to relevant plan provisions. Paragraph (b)(2)(ii)(C) of the final regulations adds a requirement that non-grandfathered ERISA-covered group health plans provide to the claimant, free of charge, any new or additional evidence considered relied upon, or generated by the plan or issuer in connection with the claim.

In addition, the PHS Act section 2719 and the final regulations provide that group health plans and issuers offering group health insurance coverage must comply either with a State external review process or a Federal review process. The regulations provide a basis for determining when plans and issuers must comply with an applicable State external review process and when they must comply with the Federal external review process.

The No Surprises Act extends the balance billing protection related to external reviews to grandfathered plans. The definitions of group health plan and health insurance issuer that are cited in section 110 of the No Surprises Act include both grandfathered and non-grandfathered plans and coverage. Accordingly, the practical effect of section 110 of the No Surprises Act is that grandfathered health plans must provide external review for adverse benefit determinations involving benefits subject to these surprise billing protections.

The claims procedure regulation imposes information collection requirements as part of the reasonable procedures that an employee benefit plan must establish regarding the handling of a benefit claim. These requirements include third-party notice and disclosure requirements that the plan must satisfy by providing information to participants and beneficiaries of the plan.

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0144. The current approval is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Summary of Benefits and Coverage and Uniform Glossary Required Under the Affordable Care Act.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0147.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, Not-for-profit institutions.

Respondents: 2,007,766.

Responses: 80,182,298.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 313,490.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $7,605,988.

Description: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. 111-148, was signed into law on March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, Pub. L. 111-152, was signed into law on March 30, 2010 (collectively known as the “Affordable Care Act”). The Affordable Care Act amends the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act) by adding section 2715 “Development and Utilization of Uniform Explanation of Coverage Documents and Standardized Definitions.”

Each group health plan and health insurance issuer offering group insurance coverage must provide a summary of benefits and coverage to plans and participants at specified points in the enrollment process. This disclosure must include, among other things, coverage examples that illustrate common benefits scenarios and related cost sharing. Additionally, plans and issuers must make the uniform glossary available in electronic form, with paper upon request, and provide 60 days advance notice of any material modifications in the plan or coverage.

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0147. The current approval is scheduled to expire on May 31, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemptions for Multiple Employer Plans and Multiple Employer Apprenticeship Plans—PTE 1976-1, PTE 1977-10, PTE 1978-6.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0058.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, Not-for-profit institutions.

Respondents: 3,259.

Responses: 3,409.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 815.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $0.

Description: The three prohibited transaction class exemptions (PTEs) included in this ICR, (1) PTE 76-1, (2) PTE 77-10, and (3) PTE 78-6, exempt certain types of transactions commonly entered into by “multiemployer” plans from certain of the prohibitions contained in sections 406 and 407(a) of ERISA. The Department determined that, in the absence of these exemptions, the affected plans would not be able to operate efficiently or to enter into routine types of transactions necessary for their operations. In order to ensure that the class exemptions for these necessary transactions meet the statutory standards, the Department imposed conditions contained in the exemptions that are information collections. The information collections consist of recordkeeping and third-party disclosures.

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0058. The current approval is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2025.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Department of Labor.

Title: Notice for Health Reimbursement Arrangements Integrated with Individual Health Insurance Coverage.

Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection of information.

OMB Number: 1210-0160.

Affected Public: Private sector, Business or other for profits, Not-for-profit institutions, Individuals or Households.

Respondents: 177,480.

Responses: 2,140,197.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 53,131.

Estimated Total Burden Cost (Operating and Maintenance): $24,831.

Description: On June 21, 2018, the Department published the Definition of Employer under Section 3(5) of ERISA—Association Health Plans final rule. On August 3, 2018, the Department of Labor, HHS and the Treasury Department (the Departments) published the Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurance final rule. These final rules remove the prohibition on integrating health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) with individual health insurance coverage, if certain conditions are met. The final rules also set forth conditions under which certain HRAs are as limited excepted benefits. In addition, the Treasury Department and the IRS finalized rules regarding premium tax credit (PTC) eligibility for individuals offered coverage under an HRA integrated with individual health insurance coverage, and DOL finalized a safe harbor to provide HRA plan sponsors with assurance that the individual health insurance coverage that is integrated with an HRA would not become part of an ERISA plan if the conditions of the safe harbor are met. Finally, HHS finalized rules that provide a special enrollment period in the individual market for individuals who gain access to an HRA that is integrated with individual health insurance coverage or who are provided a qualified small employer health reimbursement arrangement (QSEHRA).

The following five information Collections are contained in the final rules: (1) Verification of Enrollment in Individual Coverage; (2) HRA Notice to Participants; (3) Notice to Participants that Individual Policy is not Subject to Title I of ERISA; (4) Participant Notification of Individual Coverage HRA of Cancelled or Discontinued Coverage; (5) Notice for Excepted Benefit HRAs. These information collections notify the HRA that participants are enrolled in individual health insurance coverage, help individuals understand the impact of enrolling in an HRA on their eligibility for the PTC, and help individuals understand that coverage is not subject to the rules and consumer protections of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The Department has received approval from OMB for this ICR under OMB Control No. 1210-0160. The current approval is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2025.

II. Focus of Comments

The Department is particularly interested in comments that:

• Evaluate whether the collections of information are necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;
• Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the collections of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
• Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
• Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology,e.g., by permitting electronic submissions of responses.

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the ICR for OMB approval of the information collection; they will also become a matter of public record.