Happy Hanukkah and Thanksgiving to the FEHBlog’s readership.  The Obama Administration issued a deluge of Affordable Care Act regulations yesterday and today.

• Proposed 2015 ACA Benefits Parameter Notice which creates an exemption from the transitional reinsurance fee (estimated $63 per covered bellybutton in 2014, and $44 per covered bellybutton (NEW!))  for self-insured, self-administered plan in the second and third years of the three year program (2015 and 2016). The change principally benefits multi-employer plans in the private sector but could help a handful of FEHB plans. This law is flexible when the government wants it to be. 
• Final IRS health insurer fee rules which implement a massive tax on insured but not self-insured plans effective next year. In contrast to the transitional reinsurance fee, this tax burden keeps increasing from year to year (particularly in the first four years) and there’s no statutory sunset.  AHIP’s comments are here.  
• Final IRS rule on the additional taxes that the ACA imposes on high earning individuals to support Medicare.