The U.S. Department of Labor is pushing to modernise how health plan documents reach participants, proposing a new electronic delivery safe harbour for group health plans.
The Employee Benefits Security Administration published the proposed “notice and access” rule in the Federal Register on July 23, 2026, alongside estimates of employer savings of up to $3.9 billion over the next decade.
The proposal would affect approximately 2.7 million ERISA-covered group health plans but would not extend to other welfare benefit plans outside that category.
If finalised as proposed, the earliest the rule could become effective is January 1, 2027, giving plan sponsors limited time to prepare their systems and contracts.
The new safe harbour is modelled on a 2020 rule that already allows pension benefit plan administrators to post documents online and notify participants by email without requiring prior consent.
Under the proposal, employers could deliver summary plan descriptions, COBRA notices, claims notices, and other required documents electronically to participants who have provided or been assigned an electronic address.
Unlike the 2020 retirement plan safe harbour, the proposed group health plan rule would not permit direct email delivery of covered documents, due to privacy concerns around protected health information under HIPAA.
Instead, plan administrators would be required to maintain a website where documents can be accessed and must send a notice of internet availability each time a covered document is posted.
Each notice of internet availability would need to include a prominent statement reading “Disclosure About Your Health Plan,” a hyperlink to the document, and instructions for requesting a free paper copy or opting out of electronic delivery entirely.
Before relying on the safe harbour, administrators would generally be required to first furnish a paper initial notice explaining that future documents will be delivered electronically and describing how participants can access them.
Covered individuals would retain the right to request a free paper copy of any covered document at any time and may globally opt out of electronic delivery, free of charge, at any point.
Website standards under the proposal would require documents to be electronically searchable, permanently retainable or downloadable, and presented in a widely available format such as PDF.
Plan sponsors are advised to begin inventorying required group health plan disclosures, confirming which participants hold valid electronic addresses, and reviewing benefits portals for compliance with the proposed access and privacy standards.
Although the safe harbour would be voluntary, failure to satisfy its conditions could leave plan sponsors to defend whether their disclosure practices were otherwise reasonably calculated to reach participants.