Thursday, May 06, 2010
Federal Health Care Update – Coverage of Adult Children
On April 27, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidelines for how the new federal health care law will affect the extension of group health insurance coverage to an employee’s adult child. Notice 2010-38 states that:
- Group plans must provide coverage up to age 26 for adult children of employees for plan years beginning after September 23, 2010, but no later than January 1, 2011.
- An employer may allow coverage for an adult child up to a calendar year in which the child attains age 27.
- Such adult children need not meet the Internal Revenue Code requirements of a dependent of the employee for income tax purposes in order to qualify for health insurance coverage.
- Notwithstanding normal rules for open enrollment and mid-year changes to health insurance plan coverage, an employer may immediately allow an employee to enroll an adult child for health insurance coverage on a pre-tax basis, even if the cafeteria plan has not yet been amended to allow the enrollment of such individuals. A plan must be amended by December 31, 2010.
Contact Ron Wineholt for further information at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) .
