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Abstract
The tri-agency task force -- Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, Treasury, and the IRS -- has released new FAQs on the rules requiring group health plans and health insurers to issue Summaries of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The FAQs are Part VIII in a series of informal PPACA guidance issued by the task force since March 2010. These FAQs address the effective date for the SBC rules; the ability to consolidate certain information on an SBC; certain other format, delivery, and content requirements; and the agencies' expected enforcement approach during the first year. In perhaps the most significant FAQ, the agencies also provide at least temporary relief from the rule in the final regulations that would have made plans and issuers responsible for the accuracy and timeliness of SBCs even if they had contracted with a provider to prepare and/or deliver the SBCs.