The health insurance regulations published October 31, 2016 had more than one clock. Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services specified December 30 as the effective date. Applicability began with the first plan year, or individual-market policy year, starting on or after January 1, 2017. Publication did not immediately rewrite every existing policy's terms. [2016-26162]

The final short-term definition called for expiration less than three months after the contract's original effective date, counting extensions electable with or without insurer consent. HHS also stated it would not enforce that duration limit against qualifying products sold before April 1, 2017 if coverage ended by December 31, 2017 and otherwise complied with the regulatory definition. This was a bounded enforcement policy, not deletion of the new definition. [2016-26162]

The June proposal explains why the duration and disclosure provisions were linked. The departments wanted to address temporary insurance being used as primary coverage and proposed a warning that it was not minimum essential coverage. In the final transition discussion, they specifically preserved the notice requirement for policy years beginning on or after January 1, 2017; duration relief did not remove that warning. [2016-26162][2016-13583]

The final action was also narrower than the proposal: expatriate plans and hospital or other fixed-indemnity insurance were left for future rulemaking. Reading the earlier document as entirely adopted would therefore overstate the change. Both sources come from the same agency process, not independent assessments. This retrospective establishes the distinctions within the announced timetable and scope; it is not advice about policies available today. [2016-26162][2016-13583]

Source documents

  1. Excepted Benefits; Lifetime and Annual Limits; and Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurancehttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-10-31/html/2016-26162.htm
  2. Expatriate Health Plans, Expatriate Health Plan Issuers, and Qualified Expatriates; Excepted Benefits; Lifetime and Annual Limits; and Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurancehttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-06-10/html/2016-13583.htm