Health Insurance Daily

Carrier Facilitates Small Biz Group Coverage

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield recently waived a long-standing rule requiring 50% of all employees to sign up for insurance before the carrier would offer a group insurance plan to the business. Instead, Anthem has adopted a rule that says 75% of net eligible employees must participate.

The new rule at first glance seems to impose tougher restrictions, but not when employers understand the meaning of net eligible, according to Tony Felts, spokesman for Anthem BCBS in Indiana. He gives an example: Under the relaxed requirement, six of 10 employees could decline to enroll because they're covered in a spouse's plan. The net eligible is now four employees, and three of the four (75%) employees must decide to participate before the carrier will offer insurance to the business.

The rule was relaxed because most small firms, those with two to 50 workers, do not have health insurance benefits, Felts says, and Anthem believes the biggest reason is eligibility. "We are very enthusiastic about this because we believe we are reducing the difference between the number of insured and uninsured," Felts says.

The rule change affects Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Anthem is launching a direct-mail campaign spelling out the change to small businesses in the three states this month. The carrier contacted brokers and agents in December when the rule change took effect.

Article provided by BenefitNews 3-7-06.

posted by Mike @ 9:25 AM