Background
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148 and the Health Care and
Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, Public Law 111-152 (collectively, the Affordable Care Act)
establishes the Health Insurance Marketplace under Section 1311(b).
Section 1512 of the Affordable Care Act created a new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) section
18B requiring a notice from employers to employees of coverage options available through the
Health Insurance Marketplace. This includes Federal agencies.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued their Technical Release 2013-02 on May 8, 2013
entitled Guidance on the Notice to Employees of Coverage Options Under Fair Labor Standards Act
§ 18B and Updated Model Election Notice Under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation
Act of 1985. This guidance is located at www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/tr13-02.html.
The DOL’s Model Notice to Employees of Coverage Options
The DOL Technical Release 2013-02 located at www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/tr13-02.html provides
temporary guidance regarding the notice requirement under FLSA 18B and announces the
availability of the Model Notice to Employees of Coverage Options located at
www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/FLSAwithplans.pdf.
OPM has modified this Notice for Federal agencies and their employees by shortening it from 3
pages to 1 page. The attached Notice entitled “New Health Insurance Marketplace Coverage Options
and Your Health Coverage” (Attachment 1) contains the necessary information that DOL requires
employers to provide employees as indicated in their Technical Release 2013-02. We have included a
cover letter (Attachment 2) to accompany the required Health Insurance Marketplace Notice.
According to the DOL Technical Release 2013-02:
Beginning October 1, 2013, employers are required to provide the Health Insurance
Marketplace Notice to each new employee at the time of hiring. For 2014, the Department of
Labor will consider a Notice to be provided at the time of hiring if the Notice is provided
within 14 days of an employee’s start date.
By October 1, 2013, employers are required to provide the Health Insurance Marketplace
Notice to all their current employees.
The Notice is required to be provided automatically, free of charge. The Notice must be
provided in writing in a manner calculated to be understood by the average employee. It may
be provided by first-class mail. Alternatively, it may be provided electronically if the
requirements of the Department of Labor’s electronic disclosure safe harbor at 29 CFR
2520.104b-1(c) are met.
29 CFR 2520.104b-1(c) is located at www.ecfr.gov/cgi-
bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=997d3b593ae3a66e6c13e82ebda0ee6d&n=29y9.1.3.3.3&r=PART&ty
=HTML#29:9.1.3.3.3.1.10.1