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Employer Notice Requirements

The information below outlines some notice requirements you must satisfy pursuant to federal regulations.

Medicare Part D Notices
The Medicare Part D rules impose two annual notice requirements on employers: (1) a requirement to Medicare Part D-eligible individuals and (2) a requirement for notices to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Medicare Part D is a voluntary prescription drug benefit that requires an additional premium to be paid and a premium penalty is imposed for each month that an individual does not enroll in Medicare Part D. Individuals can delay enrollment in Medicare Part D if they are enrolled in a prescription drug plan that is creditable. For this reason, these notice requirements are vital. Employers should confirm they have marked their calendars accordingly based on the deadlines below.

• Notice to Plan Participants. Notices to Medicare Part D-eligible individuals informing them of whether the plan's prescription drug coverage is "creditable" or "not creditable" (that is, whether it is as good as or not as good as, Medicare Part D coverage) must be provided at a minimum: (1) prior to the individual's initial enrollment period for Medicare Part D; (2) prior to the effective date of the individual's enrollment in the employer's prescription drug plan; (3) upon any change in the employer's prescription drug coverage as creditable or not creditable; (4) annually on or before November 15th of each year; and (5) upon an individual's request. Fortunately, CMS has stated that providing the notice to all individuals by November 15 of each year will satisfy requirement (1) above.
  
  Although this notice technically must be provided only to covered individuals entitled to Medicare Part D, most employers provide this notice to all individuals covered by the plan because it is impractical (and often impossible) for plans to know which individuals covered by their plan are entitled to Medicare Part D. CMS has indicated that a single notice may be provided to one household, unless it is known that any spouse or dependent resides at a different address than the employee. Sample notices and guidance can be found on the CMS Web site. The model disclosure notice has changed from last year, so employers will need to review last year's notice to determine exactly what changes they need to make.
• CMS Notice. The annual CMS notice must be given online, on the CMS Web site within (1) 60 days after the first day of the plan year; (2) 30 days after the termination of a prescription drug plan; and/or (3) 30 days after any change in the "creditable coverage status" of a prescription drug plan.

The Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998 (WHCRA)
A notice summarizing WHCRA must be provided to each employee when he or she is first covered by the plan, and annually to all employees (as well as COBRA beneficiaries and spouses and dependents not residing at the employee's address) covered by the plan. For your convenience, a copy of a sample notice is included with this summary. For more information on WHCRA, please visit the Department of Labor's Web site on WHCRA.

HIPAA Privacy Notice
HIPAA requires that privacy notices be issued (1) to all employees when they first become covered by the plan, (2) to any employee upon request and (3) to all employees each time the privacy policy is revised. In addition, at least once every three years (beginning three years after the notice is first provided), employees must be informed (in writing) that the notice is available and the procedure for requesting a copy of the notice or group health plans may distribute a new notice every three years. For your convenience, a sample copy of the notice is included in this summary.

Additional Notices
In addition to the notices discussed above, there are a number of other notice requirements employers need to comply with such as, but not limited to COBRA Notices, USERRA Notices, Claims Procedure Notices and other notices under HIPAA (i.e., certificates of creditable coverage, etc.).