Recent federal legislation imposed significant new compliance obligations upon group health plan sponsors. These laws are designed to achieve several important objectives. One goal is to enable plan sponsors and participants to better evaluate healthcare options and make cost-conscious decisions by ensuring access to certain cost and quality of care information. Another purpose is to reduce the potential for participants to receive unexpected bills for healthcare services. Over the long term, the laws are intended to create a more competitive healthcare marketplace that puts downward pressure on prices and thus lowers overall healthcare costs.