News from Washington Biden Extends COVID-19 National Emergency President Joe Biden has decided to extend the designation of COVID-19 as a national emergency. The national emergency was first declared March 13, 2020, and was set to expire on March 1, 2022, had President Biden not chosen to extend it. In a Feb. 18 letter to […]
News from Washington Senate Sends Biden Bill Averting Federal Shutdown On February 17, the Senate gave final approval to legislation averting a weekend government shutdown, sending President Joe Biden a measure designed to give bipartisan bargainers more time to reach an overdue deal financing federal agencies until fall. The House easily approved the legislation a […]
News from Washington House Passes Stopgap Bill to Prevent Shutdown The House passed a stopgap measure to extend federal government funding until March 11 to prevent a shutdown when current government funding expires February 18. The Senate is expected to act swiftly on the legislation. The legislation buys congressional negotiators on both sides of the […]
HSA Compliance Corner Is Telehealth Now Disqualifying for HSA Contributors? Not Necessarily! Your insurer should have adjusted its schedule of benefits and its claims system to charge a price for virtual care and apply that price to the deductible on all plans that renew January 1, 2022 or later. Be sure to check with your […]
News from Washington Democrats Face Scaled-Back Agenda After Setbacks Democrats are confronting the reality of a scaled-back agenda as they try to move past high-profile setbacks that dominated the tail end of President Biden’s first year in office. After pledging to go “big and bold” when they were swept into power in 2021, Democrats are readjusting […]
News from Washington Biden Seeks to Save What He Can from Build Back Better President Biden this week offered a new path forward for his signature policy proposal based on a harsh truth: Not all of it will survive. The president’s concession that some of the social spending and climate change package will need to […]
News from Washington Biden Officials Require Insurers to Cover Eight At-Home COVID Tests per Month The Biden administration issued rules requiring private health insurers to cover the cost of at-home COVID-19 tests starting January 15 amid pressure to make testing more available. Under the policy, insurers will be required to cover the cost of eight at-home COVID-19 […]
You may already know that I track the data needed to make inflation adjustments for Health Savings Accounts from one year to the next. I have accurately predicted the annual adjustments by the Internal Revenue Service for the past 16 years. With the January 12 release of the December inflation figures by the Bureau of […]
News from Washington Democrats Hit Pause on Biden’s Climate, Social Spending Package Senate Democrats are putting President Biden’s climate and social spending plan on the back burner as they plan to debate voting rights legislation this month and hold a vote on changing the Senate’s filibuster rule. Democratic aides say the Build Back Better bill […]
Read the latest news about Health Savings Accounts and consumer-driven health care. News from Washington IRS Announces Tax Relief for Arkansas Victims of Severe Storms and Tornadoes Following the recent disaster declaration issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the IRS announced that victims of severe storms and tornadoes beginning December 10, 2021 will receive […]