ERISA § 101 (29 U.S.C. § 1021) — Duty of disclosure and reporting

(a) Summary plan description and information to be furnished to participants and beneficiaries The administrator of each employee benefit plan shall cause to be furnished in accordance with section 1024(b) of this title to each participant covered under the plan and to each beneficiary who is receiving benefits under the plan—

(1) a summary plan description described in section 1022(a)(1) ¹ of this title; and

(2) the information described in sections 1024(b)(3) and 1025(a) and (c) of this title.

(b) Reports to be filed with Secretary of Labor The administrator shall, in accordance with section 1024(a) of this title, file with the Secretary—

(1) the annual report containing the information required by section 1023 of this title; and

(2) terminal and supplementary reports as required by subsection (c) of this section.

(c) Terminal and supplementary reports

(1) Each administrator of an employee pension benefit plan which is winding up its affairs (without regard to the number of participants remaining in the plan) shall, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary, file such terminal reports as the Secretary may consider necessary. A copy of such report shall also be filed with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

(2) The Secretary may require terminal reports to be filed with regard to any employee welfare benefit plan which is winding up its affairs in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary.

(3) The Secretary may require that a plan described in paragraph (1) or (2) file a supplementary or terminal report with the annual report in the year such plan is terminated and that a copy of such supplementary or terminal report in the case of a plan described in paragraph (1) be also filed with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

(d) Notice of failure to meet minimum funding standards

(1) In general If an employer maintaining a plan other than a multiemployer plan fails to make a required installment or other payment required to meet the minimum funding standard under section 1082 of this title to a plan before the 60th day following the due date for such installment or other payment, the employer shall notify each participant and beneficiary (including an alternate payee as defined in section 1056(d)(3)(K) of this title) of such plan of such failure. Such notice shall be made at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may prescribe.

(2) Subsection not to apply if waiver pending This subsection shall not apply to any failure if the employer has filed a waiver request under section 1083 of this title with respect to the plan year to which the required installment relates, except that if the waiver request is denied, notice under paragraph (1) shall be provided within 60 days after the date of such denial.

(3) Definitions For purposes of this subsection, the terms “required installment” and “due date” have the same meanings given such terms by section 1082(e) of this title.

(e) Notice of transfer of excess pension assets to health benefits accounts

(1) Notice to participants Not later than 60 days before the date of a qualified transfer by an employee pension benefit plan of excess pension assets to a health benefits account, the administrator of the plan shall notify (in such manner as the Secretary may prescribe) each participant and beneficiary under the plan of such transfer. Such notice shall include information with respect to the amount of excess pension assets, the portion to be transferred, the amount of health benefits liabilities expected to be provided with the assets transferred, and the amount of pension benefits of the participant which will be nonforfeitable immediately after the transfer.

(2) Notice to Secretaries, administrator, and employee organizations

(A) In general Not later than 60 days before the date of any qualified transfer by an employee pension benefit plan of excess pension assets to a health benefits account, the employer maintaining the plan from which the transfer is made shall provide the Secretary, the Secretary of the Treasury, the administrator, and each employee organization representing participants in the plan a written notice of such transfer. A copy of any such notice shall be available for inspection in the principal office of the administrator.

(B) Information relating to transfer Such notice shall identify the plan from which the transfer is made, the amount of the transfer, a detailed accounting of assets projected to be held by the plan immediately before and immediately after the transfer, and the current liabilities under the plan at the time of the transfer.

(C) Authority for additional reporting requirements The Secretary may prescribe such additional reporting requirements as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.

(3) Definitions For purposes of paragraph (1), any term used in such paragraph which is also used in section 420 of title 26 (as in effect on January 1, 1995) shall have the same meaning as when used in such section.

(f) Information necessary to comply with Medicare and Medicaid Coverage Data Bank requirements

(1) Provision of information by group health plan upon request of employer

(A) In general An employer shall comply with the applicable requirements of section 1320b–14 of title 42. Upon the request of an employer maintaining a group health plan, any plan sponsor, plan administrator, insurer, third-party administrator, or other person who maintains under the plan the information necessary to enable the employer to comply with the applicable requirements of section 1320b–14 of title 42 shall, in such form and manner as may be prescribed in regulations of the Secretary (in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services), provide such information (not inconsistent with paragraph (2))—

(i) in the case of a request by an employer described in subparagraph (B) and a plan that is not a multiemployer plan or a component of an arrangement described in subparagraph (C), to the Medicare and Medicaid Coverage Data Bank;

(ii) in the case of a plan that is a multiemployer plan or is a component of an arrangement described in subparagraph (C), to the employer or to such Data Bank, at the option of the plan; and

(iii) in any other case, to the employer or to such Data Bank, at the option of the employer.

(B) Employer described An employer is described in this subparagraph for any calendar year if such employer normally employed fewer than 50 employees on a typical business day during such calendar year.

(C) Arrangement described An arrangement described in this subparagraph is any arrangement in which two or more employers contribute for the purpose of providing group health plan coverage for employees.

(2) Information not required to be provided Any plan sponsor, plan administrator, insurer, third-party administrator, or other person described in paragraph (1)(A) (other than the employer) that maintains the information under the plan shall not provide to an employer in order to satisfy the requirements of section 1320b–14 of title 42, and shall not provide to the Data Bank under such section, information that pertains in any way to—

(A) the health status of a participant, or of the participant's spouse, dependent child, or other beneficiary,

(B) the cost of coverage provided to any participant or beneficiary, or

(C) any limitations on such coverage specific to any participant or beneficiary.

(3) Regulations The Secretary may, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, prescribe such regulations as are necessary to carry out this subsection.

(g) Reporting by certain arrangements The Secretary may, by regulation, require multiple employer welfare arrangements providing benefits consisting of medical care (within the meaning of section 1191b(a)(2) of this title) which are not group health plans to report, not more frequently than annually, in such form and such manner as the Secretary may require for the purpose of determining the extent to which the requirements of part 7 are being carried out in connection with such benefits.

(h) Simple retirement accounts

(1) No employer reports Except as provided in this subsection, no report shall be required under this section by an employer maintaining a qualified salary reduction arrangement under section 408(p) of title 26.

(2) Summary description The trustee of any simple retirement account established pursuant to a qualified salary reduction arrangement under section 408(p) of title 26 shall provide to the employer maintaining the arrangement each year a description containing the following information:

(A) The name and address of the employer and the trustee.

(B) The requirements for eligibility for participation.

(C) The benefits provided with respect to the arrangement.

(D) The time and method of making elections with respect to the arrangement.

(E) The procedures for, and effects of, withdrawals (including rollovers) from the arrangement.

(3) Employee notification The employer shall notify each employee immediately before the period for which an election described in section 408(p)(5)(C) of title 26 may be made of the employee's opportunity to make such election. Such notice shall include a copy of the description described in paragraph (2).

(h) ² Cross reference For regulations relating to coordination of reports to the Secretaries of Labor and the Treasury, see section 1204 of this title.