Section 202 of the December 2020 omnibus government funding legislation signed into law by former President Donald Trump included new compensation disclosure requirements for health insurance agents and brokers. The requirements will take effect later this month on Dec. 27.

The Big “I" and certain other major producer groups have met with U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) officials and submitted a joint comment letter to the federal regulators, but no regulatory guidance on disclosures relating to group health plans has been issued to date.

Agents and brokers who handle group health plans subject to the requirements will still need to comply with the new requirements—even in the absence of additional guidance or regulations. Failure to comply with the disclosure requirements could expose agents or brokers to significant penalties that can be imposed by DOL against service providers whose arrangements result in prohibited transactions.

To that end, the Big “I" Government Affairs staff and the Office of General Counsel developed a working memo regarding health insurance compensation disclosure requirements based on currently available information. This memo will be updated to reflect any further developments.

Additionally, the Big “I" will host a webinar on the disclosure requirements next week. The webinar will feature Brad Campbell, partner at Faegre, Drinker, Biddle & Reath LLP, and former Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits. Stay tuned for more information about how to watch next week's webinar.

If you have any questions about this or related topics, contact Wyatt Stewart, Wes Bissett, or Eric Lipton.

Wyatt Stewart is Big “I" assistant vice president of federal government affairs. Wes Bissett is Big “I" government affairs senior counsel. Eric Lipton is senior counsel in the Big “I" Office of General Counsel.