COVID19 Changes to Small Group Rules

By Sadie Tuescher

​In response to the Governor's request for insurance companies to be more lenient with their rules for small groups, insurance companies have made some interesting (and mostly) helpful changes to their policies. 

Many insurance companies are waiving the waiting periods for new hires and rehires. Most insurance companies are allowing employees to stay on insurance during layoff as long as they are still considered active employees by the employer (intent to return to work, still active in the employer’s system). This is giving employees access to insurance while on unemployment when under normal condition rules they would be cut off. 

Paying premiums is still required. Insurance companies won’t waive costs unless required to by law. This is the biggest challenge for most employers, how do they make those payments without income? They will also have to collect from employees their portion of the premium since payroll is not running. It’s a weird situation.

It’s great that Wisconsin and the Small Business Administration are offering some loan assistance, but the reality is that a loan is a liability many businesses cannot recoup with sales because they are closed indefinitely. Wisconsin initially announced funding but has since walked back the offer and said Wisconsin will make loans to businesses affected. https://wedc.org/programs-and-resources/covid-19-response/

The best advice I can give at this time is if you, the employer, need to end coverage with your group, give your employees enough notice so they can move into individual plans with no gap. We can help at no cost with those enrollments.