HR & Compliance News — November 2026

Employee Benefits

Labor Department requires pharmacy benefit managers to disclose fees to large self-insured plans

The Labor Department finalized a rule requiring pharmacy benefit managers and their affiliated brokers and consultants to disclose their compensation to fiduciaries of large, self-insured group health plans covered by ERISA. The disclosures include rebates from drug manufacturers, spread pricing between what the plan pays and what the pharmacy receives, and recoupments from pharmacies. The rule takes effect January 4, 2027, and applies only to large self-insured plans.

The disclosures are meant to help plan fiduciaries assess whether their contracts with these service providers are reasonable. Most fully insured plans and small group plans are outside the rule's scope — it affects sponsors and fiduciaries of large self-insured plans and the service providers that work with them.

Takeaway: Relevant if you sponsor a large self-insured group health plan and contract with a pharmacy benefit manager.

Source: Federal Register (Labor Department)

Payroll & Tax

Treasury finalizes rule allowing IRS to accept credit and debit card payments directly

The Treasury Department finalized regulations that let the IRS accept tax payments by credit or debit card directly, without routing taxpayers through third-party payment processors. The rule also removes restrictions on the IRS charging fees for credit or debit card payments. It took effect October 19, 2026.

This is a procedural change in how taxpayers can pay federal taxes — it does not alter filing deadlines, tax rates, or employer withholding obligations. Employers who remit payroll taxes electronically are unaffected.

Takeaway: A back-end change in payment processing, not a compliance item for employers.

Source: Federal Register (Treasury Department)

Employee Benefits

Health plan price transparency rules add new data requirements and lower reporting frequency

Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services finalized rules that change how non-grandfathered group health plans and insurers must report pricing information to the public. The rules add new data elements like provider network identifiers, remove unlikely provider-to-service pairings, lower the frequency of certain file updates, and require that pricing information available online and on paper also be available by phone. The rules take effect December 7, 2026.

The changes affect sponsors of non-grandfathered group health plans and the insurers that issue coverage — they do not apply to grandfathered plans, except for the phone-access requirement tied to the No Surprises Act. Plans already subject to transparency disclosure requirements will need to adjust their reporting.

Takeaway: Affects sponsors of non-grandfathered group health plans that are already filing public pricing disclosures.

Source: Federal Register (Treasury Department)

This bulletin is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Employment laws vary by jurisdiction and are subject to change — consult qualified legal counsel before taking action based on any content in this publication.