Coverage for 1099 Employees on Kaiser California Plans Postponed
Operational and Regulatory Issues Delay Roll-out Until Fourth Quarter
Santa Rosa, CA (PRWEB) June 10, 2009
Kaiser Permanente, a leading HMO providing a wide range of health plans, is postponing the offering of group coverage to 1099 employees. Kaiser Permanente tentatively plans on offering 1099 group coverage starting on October 1, 2009. Originally, these California Group Health Insurance (http://kaiserquotes. com/california-health-insurance/group. php) plans were slated to be offered to qualifying 1099 employees on July 1; however, due to unforeseen operational issues and regulatory questions, this offering has not yet been made available and official guidelines have not yet been released.
"Some unforeseen complications have created the need to take extra time before releasing these guidelines and making group coverage available to certain 1099 employees," said John Hansen, spokesperson for KaiserQuotes. com. "One of the key issues when extending coverage to a group like this is the evaluation of added risk and expense that Kaiser Permanente will be taking on. Adding 1099 employees affects risk in a couple ways. First, having a larger pool of covered members can decrease risk. On the other hand, adding a group like this with less permanent ties to the parent company can increase risk. Guidelines and procedures must be in place beforehand in order to avoid unnecessary risk that could later force Kaiser Permanente to increase premiums for existing group members."
Historically, only W-2 employees working 20 hours or more and company owners have been eligible for Kaiser Permanente California (http://kaiserquotes. com/california-health-insurance. php) group coverage. With the new guidelines, 1099 employees will also be able to qualify for business health insurance coverage. These guidelines are currently under development.
This is a highly anticipated offering, as it is a breakthrough for 1099 employees. "We are very excited about being able to extend group coverage to those who have typically been responsible for buying their own private insurance," said Hansen. "Not only will we be able to offer group pricing, but 1099 employees who would have been denied individual coverage because of pre-existing health conditions will finally be able to get health insurance."
As soon as all issues are resolved and the guidelines have been determined, Kaiser Permanente will contact brokers directly with an exact implementation date and all pertinent details. More information on the plans offered by Kaiser Permanente can be found at www. kaiserquotes. com.
About KaiserQuotes. com
KaiserQuotes. com is a licensed insurance agency offering Kaiser Permanente (http://kaiserquotes. com) health insurance information. This website is not directly affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. KaiserQuotes. com provides free instant quotes and enrollment assistance to individuals and small businesses that are seeking health insurance coverage.
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