§18011 Preservation of Right to Maintain Existing Coverage

Summary

If you had a group health plan or health insurance on March 23, 2010, you do not have to drop that coverage because of the new law. Plans you were enrolled in on that date can keep being treated as "grandfathered" and most new rules do not apply to them, even if you renew the plan later. Some specific new rules do still apply to grandfathered plans. Sections 2715 and 2718 apply for plan years starting on or after March 23, 2010. Rules about long waiting periods (section 2708), lifetime limits (part of 2711), ending coverage for people (section 2712), and extending dependent coverage (section 2714) apply when they would normally begin. For group plans, rules about annual limits (part of 2711) and pre-existing condition exclusions (section 2704) also apply when they would normally begin. For adult children, section 2714 applies before January 1, 2014 only if the adult child cannot enroll in another employer plan. Sections 300gg–111, 300gg–112, and 300gg–117 apply for plan years starting on or after January 1, 2022. Family members may join a renewed plan only if the plan allowed family enrollment on March 23, 2010. New employees (and their families) may be added to a group plan that existed on March 23, 2010 without bringing the new rules in. If coverage came from a collective bargaining agreement ratified before March 23, 2010, the new rules wait until the last such agreement ends; changes made only to follow the new rules do not end the agreement. "Grandfathered health plan" means any group plan or insurance covered by these rules.