Group Health Insurance and Employees Over 65:

If you have employees that are reaching the age of 65 and are not planning on retiring, they will need to be aware of the changes that may happen to their group health coverage. Once someone becomes eligible for Medicare, their options for health coverage change dramatically.

Here are some concerns and issues that your employees will face once they turn 65.

Medicare and Group Health Plans

Once an American reaches the age of 65, they are eligible for Medicare in the United States. They will have the option not to enroll in the program, but this can have serious implications if they decide to enroll later.

Unfortunately, once they do enroll in Medicare, this may affect their ability to stay in your group health plan. If the group health plan is not considered as a Medigap policy, they will not be able to receive the same benefits that they were used to.

If your group health plan is not Medigap eligible, you may need to consider your options. If you have several employees that are reaching 65, it may be time to find a way to assist them by changing to a Medigap eligible group health plan. However, this is not an easy task, and not one that should be taken lightly. This could affect the rest of your employees adversely.

Health Examinations

Group health insurance companies may not want to continue their coverage for your employees that are over 65, and may request health examinations to determine eligibility. Before your employees agree to this exam, you will need to check with your state's insurance regulation board to make sure that it is legal for an insurance company to make this request in your state. If it is, an adverse outcome to their examination may result in their coverage being cancelled.

Renewing Their Coverage

Although most states now require Guaranteed Renewals for a group health plan, this may not include your employees that are over 65. Because medical concerns increase as we age and the likelihood of needing long-term care goes up, many insurance companies prefer to jettison what they feel is "dead weight." If your policy has a guaranteed renewal you will need to make sure that this is the case for all of your employees, regardless of their age.

Health Savings Accounts

Once an employee reaches the age of 65, you will not be able to continue making contributions to their health savings account. However, your employees do have the option to make "catch-up" contributions before they turn 65. You may wish to discuss making additional contributions to an employee's HSA to assist them in getting the most out of their health savings account.

Group Life Insurance

As your employees age, they may be interested in adding a group life benefit rider to their policy, or their current group life coverage may change. You will need to be aware of all of the implications your aging employees may face if you currently offer group life coverage. Typically, this type of group health coverage may not remain for employees over the age of 65.

Your aging employees have given you the best years of their lives. Now it's your turn to make sure that the rest of their lives will be enjoyable and worry-free when it comes to their enrollment in your group health care plan.

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