Group Health Notification Rules To Change July 1

Group Health Notification Rules To Change July 1

Group health brokers should advise clients that many will have new coverage rights notification responsibilities starting July 1.[@@]

The government put the new notification rules in regulations that deal with the health coverage portability rules in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, according to Ashley Kaplan, a Sunrise, Fla., labor law specialist.

Starting July 1, employers using non-calendar year health plans must provide a revised “certificate of creditable coverage” for any employees who are changing jobs or losing coverage for other reasons, Kaplan says in a commentary on the new rules.

“The examples in the final regulations regarding an employee’s or dependant’s right to enroll in a health plan upon losing other coverage may surprise some plan sponsors,” Kaplan says.