Automatic Enrollment for Large Groups Delayed to 2014

A provision in the health care reform law that requires employers with more than 200 employees to automatically enroll new employees in one of their health care plans will not go into effect until 2014, federal regulators say.

In guidance released last week by the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Internal Revenue Service, the agencies said the requirement will not go into effect until regulations are issued. Separately, the Labor Department affirmed its earlier guidance that the automatic enrollment rules won’t be ready until 2014.“In view of the need for coordinated guidance and a smooth implementation process, including an applicability date that gives employers sufficient time to comply, the Department of Labor has concluded that its automatic enrollment guidance will not be ready to take effect by 2014,” it said in a statement.

The statutory automatic enrollment provision, unlike many others in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, itself does not stipulate an effective date.Under the law, employers are required to notify employees about automatic enrollment and to give them an opportunity to opt out of a plan in which they were automatically enrolled.

Employers Given More Time to Comply With Heath Summary Rule

Employers will have more time to comply with a health care reform law requirement that they provide employees with an “easy-to-understand” summary of benefits and coverage, the Obama administration announced Thursday.



Under the final rule, the new statement—known as an SBC—would apply for plan years beginning on or after Sept. 23.For example, an employer with a plan year that starts Jan. 1 and an open enrollment period that runs from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1 would have to provide the SBC by Oct. 1.Previously, the administration said the information would have had to be distributed by March 23, which benefit experts said would not have given employers enough time to prepare and distribute the information.



The longer compliance period “will be very helpful to plan sponsors, although they still will need to devote significant time and resources to complying with the SBC by this date,” said Debbie Harrison, senior manager-public policy with the National Business Group on Health in Washington.In addition, the amount of information employers would have to provide is reduced compared to the administration’s previous proposal, which said employers would have to provide sample cost information for having a baby, managing Type 2 diabetes and treating breast cancer. Providing an example of the cost of treating breast cancer no longer is required.





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