Change of Health Plans

[Vycor]

NY State

My question is this... is there a minimum time an employee has to be notified that the employer is changing health plans (meaning switching providers)? Or can they change them over the course of a weekend?

 

[cbg]

Are you talking about changing the actual plan (i.e., it's no longer Blue Cross; it's now United Health Care); changing the plan but not the carrier (it's no longer Blue Cross Blue Shield Premier, it's now Network Blue); changing details within the same plan (the deductible is now $1500 instead of $1000 per year); or no changes to the plan but changes to the premium that the employee has to pay?

Just FYI, if I had a dollar for every time I saturated the employees with information about changes to the plan and still had someone come back later and tell me that I never told them (to the point where I could often pull out of the employee's file a form that they signed acknowledging the changes) I could retire.

 

[Vycor]

Changes from one carrier to the next...

example (made up): We had Blue Cross but switched to Aetna

Old "Blue Cross" plan started on 1/1/09 and was supposed to end 12/31/09 but company decided to switch to "Aetna" on 12/1/09 instead to save money. Decided to make the switch on 11/23/09 and told employee on 11/25/09. Employee had to make a decision on 11/30/09 about which new plan with the new carrier they wanted to go with.

Problem with a few employees, they were currently undergoing various tests/medications (some were scheduled to have tests done, some had 1 set of vacinations last week and were scheduled for a 2nd set the upcoming week, but the new plan doesnt include their existing doctor)... things like that. Wondering where the employees stand and their rights as they were told they were with "Blue Cross" for the 2009 year but company decided to switch 1 month early and only gave less then a week notice to employees.

 

[cbg]

Something is not right here. I've administered health plans for 30 years and I have yet to see an employer given an option of starting the new plan a month early.

I suspect there is some information that you are not privy to.

However, I am not aware of any law that provides a minimum time that employees must be given to make a decision on health plans. I've not had employees in NY for several years, though, so you might want to ask the NY Insurance Commissioner's office if there are any state laws that would apply.