Small Businesses Get Group Health Enrollment Window Nov. 15

Small businesses with as few as two employees can buy group health coverage during a special enrollment period running from November 15 to December 15, with plans taking effect January 1, 2027, according to a Terry Savage column distributed by Tribune Content Agency and published by Yahoo Finance.

The Affordable Care Act requires insurers selling in a state to accept small businesses that apply during the annual window, and the plans must offer coverage and premiums comparable to group plans sold to other businesses in the state, the column said. Employers are not required to contribute toward premiums, and employees can pay through pre-tax salary deductions. Only one full-time employee has to enroll for a business to set up a plan, and owners already on Medicare or covered elsewhere can still offer it. There are no pre-existing condition limits, and spouses and children under 26 are eligible.

The column said millions of Americans lost health insurance when Affordable Care Act premium subsidies disappeared, with some families seeing costs quadruple, and that many of the uninsured work for small businesses that do not offer coverage.

Savage cited Alan Wishner of Vesta Benefits Group, which works with Illinois businesses, and pointed to eHealth for national small-group coverage.

This story was first reported by Yahoo Finance.