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On April 6, 2026, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a  formally excluding account-based group health plans from the requirement to provide a Medicare Part D-creditable coverage notice to Part D-eligible individuals. This exclusion applies to individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements (ICHRAs), traditional health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), health care flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health savings accounts (HSAs), and other account-based group health plans. The final rule, which applies to coverage beginning on January 1, 2027, adopts the November 2025 proposed rule without modification. 

In its final rule, HHS acknowledged that requiring account-based plans to disclose creditable coverage status imposes an undue administrative burden on these entities, and that dual messaging — where an HRA indicates it does not offer creditable coverage while the individual’s underlying health insurance plan indicates that it does — creates potentially contradictory and confusing information for Part D-eligible individuals. Most commenters supported the exclusion, and HHS finalized the policy as proposed.

As discussed in our earlier alert regarding the proposed rule, �鶹ֱ�� has been involved in advocacy efforts for this change and other simplified reporting for ICHRAs. We view this as a significant win for the industry and an indication that regulators may be open to easing other technical requirements that are ill-suited to the ICHRA framework.