Open enrollment may define the Q4 calendar for most benefits teams. But the compliance obligations running alongside it are just as demanding, and the deadlines begin before October ends.
Lockton's ERISA compliance team published its Q4 2026 reminder alert, covering federal and state filing, disclosure, and attestation requirements that employer-sponsored health and welfare plans must clear before year's end. Petra Wheaton, assistant vice president and employee benefits compliance analyst, and Laura Hancock, an ERISA attorney, authored the alert.
The first cluster arrives in the opening two weeks of October. Employers offering a qualifying small employer health reimbursement arrangement (QSEHRA) or an individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA) for the 2027 plan year must distribute required participant notices by October 2, ninety days before the January 1 plan year start.
The ICHRA notice must explain the arrangement's benefits and clarify how ICHRA coverage affects an employee's ability to claim federal subsidies in the individual market. The notice applies to every eligible employee regardless of enrollment status - a tracking requirement that sits alongside the broader ACA compliance obligations large employers take on when moving to an ICHRA.
October 15 carries two separate deadlines. Plans must distribute Medicare Part D creditable or non-creditable coverage notices to Medicare-eligible individuals enrolled in the group plan. Most employers include this notice in open enrollment packets. CMS guidance treats that as distributed for the following 12 months, provided there is no material change in prescription drug coverage.
Calendar-year ERISA plans that obtained a 2.5-month extension from the July 31 Form 5500 base deadline must also file by October 15.
Open enrollment materials carry required contents beyond the summary of benefits and coverage (SBC). The SBC must be distributed on the first day of open enrollment when employees make affirmative elections. The 30-day advance notice rule applies only in automatic re-enrollment scenarios.
The HIPAA special enrollment notice and the HIPAA privacy notice for self-insured plans belong in the same packet, along with Michelle's Law notice for plans covering full-time students past age 26. Wellness programs subject to ACA rules must include a notice that an alternative standard is available for employees who cannot meet the standard terms.
Gaps in any of these create exposure during audits and in any ERISA litigation touching plan administration.
The compliance obligation that draws the least attention relative to its weight is the annual gag clause prohibition compliance attestation (GCPCA), due to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) by December 31.
Under CAA 2021 transparency provisions, group health plans and issuers cannot contract with providers, networks, TPAs, or other service providers in ways that restrict the plan from sharing provider-specific cost or quality data, or from accessing de-identified claims data. The annual attestation confirms the plan is in compliance.
The first filing covered the period from December 27, 2020 through the attestation date and was due December 31, 2023. Each subsequent filing covers the period since the most recent preceding attestation, submitted through CMS's online HIOS portal. Self-insured plans can authorize a TPA to file on their behalf, but the legal obligation stays with the plan sponsor if the TPA fails to act.
Two other December 31 deadlines apply to calendar-year plans. The Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act notice must be distributed to each employee regardless of eligibility or enrollment status. Entities covered by Section 1557 of the ACA must also provide or post their nondiscrimination notice. That group includes employers receiving Medicare Part D reimbursements for post-65 retiree drug coverage.
Multi-state books carry an additional Q4 layer. Washington Cares, the state's long-term care insurance program, requires fully insured and self-insured ERISA plans to file a report and remit Q3 employee payroll withholdings by October 31.
San Francisco's Health Care Security Ordinance requires fully insured plans to make contributions for Q3 expenditure shortfalls by October 30.
Massachusetts carries three separate Q4 obligations. The monthly Managed Care Organization Payor Assessment falls due October 1, November 2, and December 1. HIRD reporting runs from November 15 through December 15 for employers that reported six or more employees in any Massachusetts unemployment wage report over the prior 12 months.
New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Alaska, Maine, New Hampshire, and Washington all have quarterly vaccine assessment program filings due in October or November.
