Effective January 1, 2014, the SBC will need to state whether the plan provides "minimum essential coverage" (MEC) as required by the "individual mandate." It will also need to state whether the plan meets the "minimum value" (MV) requirement. Minimum value means the plan pays at least 60% of allowed charges for covered services, as required by the "employer mandate."

Coordination of Benefits (COB) is a way of determining the order in which benefits are paid and the amounts which are payable when you are covered under more than one health care plan or Medicare. Coordination of Benefits determines which plan pays first, which plan pays second, and which plan pays third. It also ensures that the total payments from all plans do not exceed 100 percent of the total covered charge. All benefits of this plan are subject to coordination of benefits. These Coordination of Benefits provisions are subject to change as new rules and regulations arise.

The most common rules for determining the order of payment are the Non-Dependent / Dependent Rule, the Active/ Inactive Rule and the Birthday Rule.

The plan that covers an individual as an enrollee or subscriber is the primary payer over a plan that covers an individual as a dependent, for example, as a spouse.

The plan that covers an individual as an active employee or as the dependent of an active employee is the primary payer over the plan that covers the individual as a retired or laid off employee or as the dependent of such an employee.

This rule determines whether a plan is primary or secondary for a dependent child who is covered by both parents' benefit plans and those parents live together. The plan covering the parent whose birthday (month and day only) falls first in a calendar year provides primary coverage for the child. If both parents have the same birthday, then the plan that has been in effect the longest pays as primary.