As human resources (HR) leaders plan to expand the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in the workplace, nearly a dozen states have enacted or are considering legislation to regulate its use in employment practices. Additionally, courts are seeing class actions involving alleged disparate impact discrimination and wage and hour violations related to GenAI. Implementing GenAI technologies without understanding their algorithms or data usage can expose employers to legal risks such as potential class actions based on privacy, AI regulations, and employment claims.
IRS Releases 2026 Limits for HSAs and Excepted Benefit HRAs
On May 19, 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2025-21. It includes Revenue Procedure 2025-19, which provides the 2026 inflation-adjusted amounts for health savings accounts (HSAs) as determined under Code § 223, as well as the maximum amount that may be made newly available for excepted benefit health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) under Code § 54.9831-1(c)(3)(viii). Revenue Procedure 2025-19 is effective for HSAs for the 2026 calendar year and for excepted benefit HRAs beginning in 2026.
Learn more about other new IRS guidance in this Weekly IRS Roundup published by McDermott’s Tax Group.
Trump Administration Takes Steps to Enhance Healthcare Price Transparency
In May, the Trump administration issued guidance and requests for information (RFIs) to enhance healthcare price transparency, focusing on both hospitals and health plans. For hospitals, the guidance reiterates the need to provide actual dollar amounts for payer-specific negotiated charges in machine-readable files (MRFs) rather than percentages, and it seeks input on improving the accuracy and completeness of MRF data. For health plans, the RFI addresses concerns about file size and data integrity, and it explores the implementation of net prices for covered prescription drugs, indicating that the administration plans to issue revised schemas and may pursue further transparency rulemaking.
One Big Beautiful Bill Act Has Compensation & Benefits Impacts for Nonprofit Health Systems
The US House of Representatives passed its One Big Beautiful Bill Act on May 22, 2025 (the Act), but nonprofit health systems may not find much about the Act that’s attractive. If passed by the US Senate and signed into law, the Act would threaten already thin operating margins at nonprofit hospitals and health systems by expanding the executive compensation excise tax, taxing parking, and similar employee benefits.
An Update on NAIC’s Consideration of AI Model Law for Insurers
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (H) Working Group released a request for information (RFI) to explore the potential drafting of a model law to regulate insurers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The RFI asks stakeholders to provide comments on whether uniform statutory requirements for AI are needed in the insurance industry.
