Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act: Annual Notice Reminder


An often overlooked compliance obligation directs employers to notify employees of their rights under the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA). Because many plans are now preparing for annual enrollment, this may be an ideal time to address this notice requirement. More details about WHCRA are available upon request from your Willis representative.

Federal law requires that an employer provide an outline of an employee’s rights under the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA) upon the employee’s enrollment in the medical plan. Additionally, employers are required to send an annual reminder about benefits required under WHCRA.

This annual notice may be included in any of the following materials:

• Union or benefits newsletter;
• Open enrollment materials; or
• Any other written communication about the plan.

Many employers find it convenient to address this requirement at open enrollment. Consequently, the following notice may be copied and included with your open/annual enrollment materials to fulfill your company’s annual notice requirement:

“The Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act requires group health plans to make certain benefits available to participants who have undergone a mastectomy. In particular, a plan must offer mastectomy patients benefits for:

• All stages of reconstruction of the breast on which the mastectomy
was performed;
• Surgery and reconstruction of the other breast to produce a
symmetrical appearance;
• Prostheses; and
• Treatment of physical complications of the mastectomy, including
lymphedema.

Our plan complies with these requirements. Benefits for these items generally are comparable to those provided under our plan for similar types of medical services and supplies. Of course, the extent to which any of these items is appropriate following mastectomy is a matter to be determined by consultation between the attending physician and the patient. Our plan neither imposes penalties (for example, reducing or limiting reimbursements) nor provides incentives to induce attending providers to provide care inconsistent with these requirements.”


We wish to thank Willis for contributing to this article. The information contained in this article is not intended to provide legal advice. Please consult an attorney regarding issues raised in this article.



The article was provided by Julio C. Ortiz, Partner First Insurance Group, Inc’s Employee Benefit Practice And Willis’ Legal Research Group

For any questions or comments please contact us at: info@intelliobm.com or call us at 787-756-5880