Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act FAQs

the Department of Labor
  • What is the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA)?

  • I have been diagnosed with breast cancer and plan to have a mastectomy. How will WHCRA affect my benefits?

  • Will WHCRA require all group health plans, insurance companies and HMOs to provide reconstructive surgery benefits?

  • Under WHCRA, may group health plans, insurance companies and HMOs impose deductibles or coinsurance requirements for reconstructive surgery in connection with a mastectomy?

  • When do these requirements take effect?

  • My state requires a minimum hospital stay in addition to coverage for breast reconstruction required by WHCRA. Am I also entitled to the minimum hospital stay?

  • What are the notice requirements under WHCRA?

  • Are all group health plans, and their insurance companies and HMOs, required to satisfy the notice requirements under WHCRA?

  • How must these notices be delivered to participants and beneficiaries?

    Q: What is the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA)?

    A: The Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act ("WHCRA") protects women who elect breast reconstruction in connection with a mastectomy. WHCRA amended the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act) and is administered by the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services.

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    Q: I have been diagnosed with breast cancer and plan to have a mastectomy. How will WHCRA affect my benefits?

    A: Under WHCRA, group health plans, insurance companies and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) offering mastectomy coverage must also provide coverage for reconstructive surgery in a manner determined in consultation with the attending physician and the patient. Coverage includes reconstruction of the breast on which the mastectomy was performed, surgery and reconstruction of the other breast to produce a symmetrical appearance, and prostheses and treatment of physical complications at all stages of the mastectomy, including lymph edemas.

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    Q: Will WHCRA require all group health plans, insurance companies and HMOs to provide reconstructive surgery benefits?

    A: All group health plans, and their insurance companies or HMOs, that provide coverage for medical and surgical benefits with respect to a mastectomy are subject to the requirements of WHCRA.

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    Q: Under WHCRA, may group health plans, insurance companies and HMOs impose deductibles or coinsurance requirements for reconstructive surgery in connection with a mastectomy?

    A: Yes, but only if the deductibles and coinsurance are consistent with those established for other benefits under the plan or coverage.

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    Q: When do these requirements take effect?

    A: The reconstructive surgery requirements apply to group health plans for plan years beginning on or after October 21, 1998. These requirements also apply to individual health insurance policies offered, sold, issued, renewed, in effect, or operated on or after October 21, 1998.

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    Q: My state requires the coverage for breast reconstruction that is required by WHCRA and also requires minimum hospital stays in connection with a mastectomy that are not required by WHCRA. If I have a mastectomy and breast reconstruction, am I also entitled to the minimum hospital stay?

    A: It depends. The federal WHCRA permits state law protections to apply to certain health coverage. State law protections apply if the state law is in effect on October 21, 1998 (date of enactment of WHCRA) and the state law requires at least the coverage for reconstructive breast surgery that is required by the federal WHCRA.

    If state law meets these requirements, then it applies to coverage provided by an insurance company or HMO ("insured" coverage). If you obtained your coverage through your employer and your coverage is "insured," you would be entitled to the minimum hospital stay required by state law. If you obtained your coverage through your employer but your coverage isn't provided by an insurance company or HMO (that is, your employer "self-insures" your coverage), then state law doesn't apply. In that case, only the federal WHCRA applies and it does not require minimum hospital stays. To find out if your group health coverage is "insured" or "self-insured," check your Summary Plan Description (SPD) or contact your plan administrator. If you obtained your coverage under a private individual health insurance policy (not through your employer), check with your State Insurance Commissioner's Office to learn if state law applies.

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    Q: What are the notice requirements under WHCRA?

    A: There are two separate notices required under WHCRA. The first notice is a one-time requirement under which group health plans, and their insurance companies or HMOs, must furnish a written description of the benefits that WHCRA requires. The second notice must also describe the benefits required under WHCRA, but it must be provided upon enrollment in the plan and it must be furnished annually thereafter.

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    Q: Are all group health plans, and their insurance companies and HMOs, required to satisfy the notice requirements under WHCRA?

    A: All group health plans, and their insurance companies or HMOs, that offer coverage for medical and surgical benefits with respect to a mastectomy are subject to the notice requirements under WHCRA.

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    Q: How must these notices be delivered to participants and beneficiaries?

    A: These notices must be delivered in accordance with the Department of Labor's disclosure regulations applicable to furnishing summary plan descriptions. For example, the notices may be provided by first class mail or any other means of delivery prescribed in the regulation. It is the view of the Department that a separate notice would be required to be furnished to a group health plan beneficiary where the last known address of the beneficiary is different than the last known address of the covered participant.

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    Information courtesy of the Department of Labor.
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