Two weeks ago I started a series of Blogs on The Headache of Enrolling an Employee Late. I wanted to remind everyone how important it is to ensure that employees are added to the Employee Benefit Program within 30 days of the end of the Waiting Period. The below is an article out of “Smallbiz Advisor“:
The Headache of Late Applicants
BY Joe Demelo, TRG Benefits Group | February 26, 2013
Does it really matter when benefits plan forms are completed and sent to the insurance company?
The short answer is yes—and not just to make life difficult for clients and employees.
Late Applicant Trouble
So what happens if an employee, and the employer, does not enroll eligible employees and dependents within the required time frame? A lot more headaches. The enrollment or change can still occur but the insurance carrier will treat the transaction as late or classify the employee as a “late applicant”.
With this, a pandoras box gets opened that will, at the very least, cause extra work and may even create a liability situation for the employer. The carrier will ask for details around the change and will most likely include questions about the applicant’s health. It may even require contact with physicians to obtain medical files.
A decision on whether the insurer is willing to provide coverage will be made by the insurance carrier, and for a late applicant, it is the insurance carrier’s prerogative to allow or decline the coverage. (I would like to ad, this decision will be made based on a person’s medical information.)
Contact us to review your Waiting Period and the processes you use to ensure employees are added in a timely manner.