DOL Releases Model CHIP Notice -
Triggers Employer Notice Requirement
On February 4, 2010, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a model CHIP notice for employers sponsoring group health plans to assist in complying with the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA). The model notice is intended to be used by an employer to inform employees of potential opportunities available in the states in which they reside for premium assistance subsidies available under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). View the model notice on the DOL Web site.
If a group health plan, whether self or fully-insured, provides benefits for medical care to participants or dependents in a state that provides a premium assistance subsidy for the purchase of group health plan coverage, the employer sponsoring the plan is required to meet the CHIPRA notice requirements (Employer CHIP Notice). Employers are required to provide the Employer CHIP Notice to each employee, regardless of whether the employee is enrolled in the group health plan, notifying the employee of potential premium assistance subsidies currently available in the state in which the employee resides, as well as how to contact the state for additional information. An employer may instead send an Employer CHIP Notice to all of its employees if it is administratively easier than determining which employees reside in states that provide premium assistance.
The model Employer CHIP Notice lists the states that provide premium assistance as of January 22, 2010. The DOL intends to update this list annually on its Web site. An employer can use the model notice to fulfill its employer notice requirements under CHIPRA. An employer may also modify the model notice, such as to add more specific information about a particular state's premium assistance subsidy opportunities.
The initial Employer CHIP Notice must be provided to employees by the date that is the later of: (i) the first day of the first plan year after February 4, 2010; or (ii) May 1, 2010. For calendar year plans, the initial Employer CHIP Notice must be sent no later than January 1, 2011. The notice must be provided annually thereafter.
The Employer CHIP Notice is not required to be provided in a separate mailing. Rather, employers may provide the Employer CHIP Notice with materials notifying the employee of health benefit plan eligibility, open enrollment materials, or the summary plan description, so long as the notice is in a separate written document and is written in a manner calculated to be understood by the average employee. The Employer CHIP Notice may be provided by first-class mail or electronically, subject to the DOL's electronic disclosure rules.
If you would like more information regarding CHIPRA, your obligations with respect to the Employer CHIP Notice, or your ability to transmit this notice electronically, you may contact Chris Sears, Tara Schulstad Sciscoe, Mary Beth Braitman, Melissa Proffitt Reese, or your Ice Miller LLP employee benefits attorney.
