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November 5, 2008    DOL Home > Find It! By Topic > Health Plans > Health Benefits Education   

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Health Plans & Benefits

Health Benefits Education

The Department of Labor's Health Benefits Education Campaign focuses on life and work events, such as marriage, childbirth, job loss, or retirement, and how they affect employees' health benefit choices. The Campaign partners with 70 public and private organizations — including business, consumer, and labor groups — to develop new educational tools and strategies for workers and their families. The Department has developed a number of educational materials that it distributes through the Campaign's partners as well as through a toll-free publication telephone line, 1-800-998-7542, and on the Department's Web site. The Campaign provides both consumer information on health plans and compliance assistance for employers, third party administrators, insurers, and other plan service providers. The Campaign's message is that information is key — know your benefits rights.

DOL Web Pages on This Topic

Consumer Information on Health Plans
Provides fact sheets, booklets, and other health plan information from the Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).

Compliance Assistance
Provides publications and other materials to assist employers and employee benefit plan practitioners in understanding and complying with the requirements of the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) for the administration of pension and health plans.

Work Changes Require Health Choices (Español)
Provides information on making health care decisions when your work life changes.

Life Changes Require Health Choices (Español)
Provides guidance on making health benefit decisions following key life events such as marriage or the birth or adoption of a child.

Top 10 Ways to Make Your Health Benefits Work for You (Español)
Provides ten tips to help make your health benefits work better for you.

Health Benefits Under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) (PDF)
COBRA gives workers and their family members who lose their health benefits in certain circumstances the right to choose to continue group health benefits provided by their plan. This publication provides a detailed overview of the law.

Technical Release: Notice of Changes Under HIPAA to COBRA Continuation Coverage Under Group Health Plans
Explains the changes that were made to COBRA under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Compliance Assistance for Group Health Plans: HIPAA and Other Recent Health Care Laws
Provides 10 key compliance considerations for group health plans.

Questions & Answers on the HIPAA Nondiscrimination Requirements
Provides answers to commonly asked questions about the HIPAA nondiscrimination requirements.

Women's Health & Cancer Rights Act of 1998: Questions & Answers
Provides general guidance about the Women’s Health Act provisions that amend ERISA.

Women's Health & Cancer Rights Act of 1998: Questions & Answers — Annual Notice Requirements Update
Provides general guidance about the enrollment and annual notice requirements under the provisions of WHCRA that amend ERISA.

Your Employer's Bankruptcy: How Will it Affect Your Employee Benefits?
Provides information about bankruptcy’s effect on pension plans and group health plans.

Pension & Welfare Brief: Can the Retiree Health Benefits Provided by Your Employer Be Cut?
Provides retirees and current employees with tips for checking the documents that govern health care coverage during retirement.

Health Coverage Portability (PDF)
Provides information about major provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act, the Mental Health Parity Act, and the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act.

How to File a Claim for Your Benefits
Provides advice to participants about how to file a claim for benefits and what to do if the claim is denied.

How to Obtain Employee Benefit Plan Documents from the Department of Labor
Describes the documents and materials available through the EBSA public disclosure room and how you can obtain the documents from them.




Phone Numbers