Two years after the U.S. enacted healthcare reform, thegovernment continues to issue new regulations piecemeal. Complyingwith the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has beenespecially arduous for self-insured companies that provide theirown coverage to employees rather than paying a premium to aninsurance provider.

Self-insured companies got more work last month when theDepartments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury issueda final rule on summaries of benefits and coverage that allcompanies must provide to new enrollees and special enrollees onthe first day of the plan year beginning after Sept. 23.

The summaries were a hotly contested topic for self-insuredcompanies, which argued that the new write-ups would duplicateinformation they are already required to provide under ERISA andcould confuse employees. The government listened to such concerns,but rejected a proposal from business groups to exempt self-insuredcompanies from the requirement to provide such summaries.