Health Insurance for Temporary Employees

The Affordable Care Act (ACA law) requires that anyone hired to work 30 or more hours per week, and for at least 3 months, must be offered the chance to enroll in the ACA health plan within their first 30 days of employment. If it cannot be determined if the position will work 30 or more hours per week, or if there is uncertainty as to the length of the assignment, the HR Benefits Office will monitor eligibility on a month to month basis. The offer to enroll in the ACA health plan may also be made after a person has averaged 30 hours per week over a 3 month period.

Offers are sent as close to the 1st and 15th of the month after the employees hire date as possible. If you believe you are eligible and should have received an offer to enroll in the ACA health plan, please submit an HR Now case.

For newly hired eligible employees, ACA plan health coverage must be offered within the first 30 days of hire and could begin on the first day of the month following the offer date. For temporary employees not eligible for offer when hired, the Benefits Office will use a 3 month look back period to determine if the temporary employee averaged 30 or more hours per week over the prior 3 month period. If the employee averaged 30 or more hours per week, health coverage must be offered within 60 days and could begin on the first day of the month following the offer date.

Duration and End of Coverage

If eligible and the employee accepts the ACA plan health coverage, it must last for at least 3 months regardless of hours worked. After these 3 months of coverage, if the employees work hours average less than 30 hours per week, the coverage may be canceled. If the employee terminates employment, the coverage will end.

The monthly premium for temporary employees enrolled in the ACA health plan is $96. This cost will be billed directly to the employee by the plan, on a monthly basis. Visit the State Health Plan website to view current rates for all plan options and dependent costs.

Employees can choose from four coverage levels:

• Employee Only
• Employee + Child(ren)
• Employee + Spouse
• Employee + Family

Employees will have 30 days from receipt of the ACA health plan offer to enroll in coverage. After the 30 day period the employees will have to experience a qualifying life event to change benefits for the current year, or wait until annual enrollment.

Enrollment is done through the State Health Plan’s BenefitFocus enrollment platform, via MyPack portal. Visit HRNow for detailed enrollment instructions.

The Marketplace provides another way for employees to purchase health insurance for one’s self or dependents. Marketplace plans provide many types of options at different price points. Subsidies are available to employees who are not offered health insurance through their employers. For complete information visit HealthCare.gov.