Which insurance plans and policies are eligible for grandfather status?
The health care reform law exempted — or “grandfathered” — employer-sponsored health care plans in effect on March 23, 2010. Whether a plan or policy is considered the “same” as it was on that date depends on the changes it makes from that point on. Grandfathered health plans will be able to make routine changes to their policies and maintain their status. These routine changes include cost adjustments to keep pace with medical inflation, adding new benefits, making modest adjustments to existing benefits, voluntarily adopting new consumer protections under the new law, or making changes to comply with state or other federal laws. Premium changes are not taken into account when determining whether a plan is grandfathered. For more government information on what changes will cause employers and insurance plans to lose their grandfather status, please click here.
