- You will recall that the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998 (WHCRA) added Section 713 to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA") requiring that group health plans which cover the cost of mastectomies also cover the costs of related reconstructive surgery and prostheses. Section 713 also requires that notices be sent to plan participants concerning these benefits. The Department of Labor ("DOL") recently issued guidance on the notice requirements.
- According to the DOL, the initial notice was due at the beginning of 1999, and subsequent notices must be sent upon enrollment of new participants and annually to all participants. The requirement of notice upon enrollment may be fulfilled by the certificate of coverage issued by the group health plan's insurer or HMO, so administrators should review the certificates already being provided to their plan participants to determine whether the requirement is already being fulfilled. If not, then we recommend that the notice be incorporated into the plan's summary plan description, so that it is automatically given to new participants.
- If you have not yet distributed the initial notice, you should do so now, either via direct distribution of copies to participants, or via first class mailing.
- The annual notices may be given at any time during the plan year. We recommend incorporating the notice into the open enrollment notices which group health plans normally disseminate annually to all plan participants. COBRA participants must receive the annual WHCRA notice, and using the open enrollment materials as the vehicle will insure that they are covered.
- The guidance published by the Department of Labor follows, which includes a model WHCRA notice.
Department Of Labor Issues Guidance on Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act Of 1998 Notices
This article was edited and reviewed by FindLaw Attorney Writers | Last reviewed March 26, 2008
This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by FindLaw’s team of legal writers and attorneys and in accordance with our editorial standards.
The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area.
Was this helpful?