The Departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services released an FAQ stating that they received a lot of feedback regarding the regulations. As soon as is possible, they will issue "final regulations that take into account these comments and other stakeholder feedback." They provided no time line as to when final regulations will be issued. The Departments did say, however, that when the rules are finalized, they will likely "include an applicability date that gives group health plans and health insurance issuers sufficient time to comply."

These regulations are part of the Public Health Service Act, section 2715, requiring that enrolled employees be provided with a summary of their benefits and coverage, as well as a plain English glossary of commonly used terms — like deductible and co-pay. Both new and existing plans will be required to comply. If a plan changes during the year, employees must be provided with notice at least 60 days prior to the change.