Are Employers Legally Required to Provide Insurance for Employees?

Employers today find that they can attract better educated and more highly skilled workers through attractive benefits packages that often include employee health insurance. Larger companies often offer group health insurance plans to full time employees or employees who work more than 25 to 30 hours a week or who fulfill certain other requirements. Currently, however, there is no legislation mandating employers to provide health coverage to employees.

Employees who do provide insurance coverage to their employees pay a certain percentage of the premium and are subject to particular state and federal laws regarding pre-existing medical conditions and continuing coverage for employees whose employment is terminated. These laws can protect the employees and ensure adequate insurance coverage under a variety of situations.

In some cases, employees may also have access to health savings accounts, in which they, and sometimes their employer, can deposit tax-free funds for specific purposes. These funds may be later withdrawn and used for paying deductibles, copayments or coinsurance, or put towards other health care expenses without penalty. A traditional health savings account must be used with a high deductible health plan, or HDHP, but other variations of healthcare reimbursement accounts are available and may be used with other types of insurance plans.

Employers may also offer coverage for health insurance for their employees’ dependents, including spouses, domestic partners, and children. When dependents are covered, the employer may pay a portion of the premium equal or less than the amount they pay for the employee’s premium.

All this is expected to change as of 2014, however, when employers with more than 50 employees will be required to offer insurance benefits to their employees, or they could face penalties. These penalties could reach $2,000 per uninsured employee. Employers who do not pay a substantial enough portion of their employees’ premiums may also be subject to a fine.

Source: Los Angeles Health Care

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