Summary of Material Modification (SMM)
ERISA § 102; 29 CFR § 2520.104b-3
Describes modifications to plan and changes to information required in the SPD. Updated SPD satisfies this.
When do you owe an SMM?
Whenever the plan changes in a way that's material: benefits added or dropped, cost-sharing restructured, eligibility rules changed, carrier or network swapped. The SMM is the participant-facing summary of that change. Deadline: within 210 days after the end of the plan year in which you adopted the change.
One big exception on timing
If the change is a material reduction in covered services or benefits, the window shrinks to 60 days after adoption. Cutting benefits moves fast; improving them can wait. When in doubt about which bucket a change falls in, use the 60-day clock.
The easy ways to satisfy it
- An updated SPD distributed to participants counts as the SMM. If you're reissuing the SPD anyway, you're done.
- Otherwise a short standalone notice works: what changed, when it takes effect, who it affects.
- Keep every SMM with your wrap SPD so the plan document trail stays complete. Renewal season changes are the ones that get missed. Make the SMM part of your renewal checklist, not an afterthought.
Related Reading
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