ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act): employers with 15 or more employees may not discriminate because of disability in fringe benefits, including group health coverage, not only in hiring and firing. Insurers may still underwrite and classify risks consistent with state law, as long as this is not a subterfuge.

Pregnancy Discrimination Act: amended Title VII so that sex discrimination includes pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions. Pregnancy must be treated like other conditions for all employment purposes, including fringe benefits. Title VII reaches employers with 15 or more employees.

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act): a group plan may not base eligibility on health status factors (medical condition, claims experience, medical history, evidence of insurability), or charge one person more than similarly situated people for those reasons. Premium discounts for health promotion and disease prevention programs are allowed.

HIPAA special enrollment: a person who declined the plan because of other coverage, and then loses eligibility for that coverage, may enroll outside open enrollment, with at least 30 days to request it. They do not have to use up COBRA first.

FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act): an eligible employee has worked for the employer at least 12 months, has at least 1,250 hours of service in the 12 months before leave, and works where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles. During leave, the employer must maintain group health coverage on the same terms as if the employee had kept working.

Mental health parity: when a plan covers both medical and mental health benefits, the copayments and treatment limits (such as visit caps) on mental health benefits may be no more restrictive than the predominant ones applied to substantially all medical and surgical benefits.