Summary

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS), the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration's (PWBA), and the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) new interim rules on health insurance portability for group health plans. GAO noted that: (1) the new rules would govern access, portability, and renewability requirements for group health plans and issuers of health insurance coverage in connection with a group health plan; (2) the rules would implement changes in the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Public Health Service Act which were enacted by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996; and (3) IRS, PWBA, and HCFA complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rules.