DOL Proposes Extending Electronic Notice Safe Harbor to Group Health Plans
Group health plan sponsors and employee benefits compliance teams must track this DOL proposal, which would extend the electronic notice-and-access safe harbor to group health plans to cut administrative burden and lower compliance risk for compliant electronic notice delivery.
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued proposed regulations that would extend the existing notice-and-access electronic delivery safe harbor, currently limited to select employee benefit plan disclosures, to all notices required for group health plans under ERISA and the Affordable Care Act. If finalized, the rule would permit plan sponsors to deliver required plan notices electronically (via email, secure plan portals, or other compliant digital channels) without obtaining individual participant consent, as long as notices meet existing safe harbor standards for accessibility and clear notice of the right to request paper copies. Group health plan sponsors should review the proposed rule, submit comments during the public comment period, and evaluate their current notice delivery workflows to ensure alignment with the expanded safe harbor if it takes effect.