Answers to your Employer Group Health Insurance Questions

Can the waiting period for new employees to be eligible for health
benefits be 180 days?
No. The maximum wait for a new employee is 90 days. Period. An Employer
can choose to offer coverage after any time less than 90 days; for example
benefits begin after a 30 day wait, or 1st of the month
following 30 or 60 days. They CANNOT offer 1st of the month
after 90 days because 90 days is the Maximum wait time.

I own a small company with less than 10 employees; I am terminating an
employee. Do I need to offer them the option to continue the health
insurance?
Yes. While small groups (under 20 employees) are not subject to the
COBRA law, small groups 2-19 are suject to Illinois Continuation. An
Employer must offer coverage to the terminated employee for up to 12
months.

Can I waive the waiting period for my newly recruited/a top-notch
executive who needs family coverage starting day one in order to take the
job?
No. You cannot discriminate and offer different benefits to different
employees or waive the waiting period. However, you can offer to pay their
COBRA or purchase a short term policy to cover them under they are eligible
for your company benefits.

Can an employee who changed her mind get onto our group health policy at
any time?
No. Unless the employee has a QUALIFYING EVENT, such as loss of other
coverage (through spouse or from a divorce) in the last 30 days, then they
would not be allowed to enroll in the group plan at any time. The only
exception is for the annual Open Enrollment, which is 30 days prior to the
group’s renewal date. Anyone that had previously waived can jump on at this
time.

I am thinking of dissolving the group health plan and giving money to
the employees to go buy insurance on their own. Can I do this on a Pre-Tax
basis?
Maybe. When the ACA plans became available in 2014, the Federal
Government took away the ability for Employers to Reimburse employees on a
Pre-Tax basis through an HRA arrangement (Health Reimbursement Account.)
They even came out with a final ruling that said if you still had an HRA
for individual policies after a certain date and were audited, the Employer
would be fined and penalized.
As of Dec. 2016, a new HHS rule allows for deductions for Employers on
Employee Contributions for individual health plans IF the new QSEHRA is
established. For more info on these plans, contact CB Health Insurance
630-279-1739.