The DOL has posted a Health Benefits Advisor to its website. The following is an excerpt taken from the website.
The Health Benefits Advisor provides employers with an overview of certain federal laws that can affect health benefit coverage provided by group health plans. The requirements described in this Advisor generally apply to group health plans and group health insurance issuers (i.e., insurance companies and health maintenance organizations (HMOs)). However, for convenience, references here are generally limited to “group health plans” or “plans.”
The laws discussed in this Advisor are included in Parts 6 and 7 of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). These laws include:
- The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 (COBRA)
- The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
- The Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act of 1996 (Newborns’ Act)
- The Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 (MHPA)
- The Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998 (WHCRA)
For more information to go http://www.dol.gov/elaws/ebsa/health/employer/R1.htm
