What the One Big Beautiful Bill Actually Changed for Employer Benefits

The bill signed on July 4 last year runs well over 800 pages, and the benefits provisions are scattered through it. I have read the parts that touch employer plans more than once. Here is what I would want to know if I were running HR or finance at one of our clients, in rough order of how much it matters.

Telehealth before the deductible is permanent

Since 2020, high-deductible plans have been allowed to cover telehealth before the deductible without breaking HSA eligibility, but only under temporary extensions that kept lapsing. That is now permanent, retroactive to plan years beginning after December 31, 2024. If your plan dropped first-dollar telehealth when the last extension expired, you can put it back. For a workforce that uses virtual visits, this is the single most useful change in the bill.

Direct primary care no longer breaks the HSA

Starting in 2026, a direct primary care arrangement with a monthly fee of $150 or less for an individual, or $300 for a family, does not disqualify someone from contributing to an HSA, and the fee itself can be paid from the HSA. We have clients who wanted to pair DPC with a high-deductible plan for years and could not. Now they can.

Bronze and catastrophic marketplace plans count as HDHPs

This one is mostly relevant for your part-timers and for spouses on the exchange, but it means more people can open and fund an HSA than before.

Dependent care FSA to $7,500

Steven covered this in detail last month. First increase since 1986. Amend your plan document if it hard-codes the old number.

Student loan repayment is permanent

The $5,250 tax-free employer payment toward an employee's student loans under Section 127 was scheduled to expire at the end of 2025. It is now permanent and will be indexed for inflation starting in 2027. For employers in health care, education, and professional services, this is a retention tool that costs less than a comparable raise.

Child care credit expanded

The employer-provided child care credit was increased to 40% of qualified expenses, with a cap of $500,000, or $600,000 for eligible small businesses. If you have ever considered an on-site or contracted child care arrangement and the math did not work, it is worth running again.

Paid family and medical leave credit is permanent

The credit for employers offering paid family and medical leave is now permanent, and employees become eligible after six months of service instead of twelve.

Trump Accounts for children

A new tax-advantaged account for children under 18, with contributions allowed starting July 4, 2026. The annual limit is $5,000, and an employer can contribute up to $2,500 of that tax-free to an employee's child. Children born between 2025 and 2028 get a $1,000 federal seed deposit. I am not telling anyone to add this to their benefits package yet; the guidance is still thin. But I expect employees with young kids to ask about it this summer, so it is worth having an answer.

What I would do this quarter

Restore first-dollar telehealth if you dropped it. Confirm the dependent care amendment. Decide whether student loan repayment belongs in your package for 2027. Everything else can wait for more guidance.

This is my read of the law, not legal advice. If you want to go through it against your actual plan documents, that is what we are here for.