Congress ended the partial federal government shutdown today.  The new continuing resolution (H.R. 195) extends federal appropriations for the federal government through February 8, 2018, extends Children’s Health Insurance Program funding for six years, and suspends the ACA’s health insurer tax for 2018, the ACA’s medical device tax for 2018 and 2019, and further delays implementation of the ACA’s high cost employer sponsored plan excises tax (a/k/a) Cadillac tax from 2020 to 2022.

Also today, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management released a final rule on removal of family members from FEHB plan coverage. The rule concerns voluntary removal of otherwise eligible members and involuntary removal of ineligible individuals with, of course, appropriate due process. The rule will take effect on February 22, 2018.