This Compliance Overview summarizes a number of the notice and disclosure requirements that apply to group health plans and employers under federal laws. For example, this overview describes notice and disclosure requirements under:

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• The Affordable Care Act (ACA)

• COBRA

• ERISA

• The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

• The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)

• HIPAA

• Medicare Part D

• Other federal laws, such as the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA)

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Required Notices

• Group health plan sponsors must comply with numerous reporting and disclosure requirements.

• Each notice or disclosure has its own timing requirements.

• Although some notice and disclosure requirements apply to all employers, others only apply to certain employers.

• Model forms are available for many required disclosures.

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Examples

• Some of the main notice and disclosure requirements for group health plans are:

• The summary plan description (SPD)

• COBRA notices

• ACA employee statements

• Medicare Part D notices of creditable coverage

• Form 5500

 

Links and Resources

• Department of Labor’s (DOL) website regarding compliance assistance for health plans, which includes links to many model forms and notices.

• Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website for tax forms and instructions.

• Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) website regarding Medicare Part D disclosures.