Is your business eligable for group coverage?

Under California law AB1672, small employers are guaranteed group coverage should they choose to purchase it, regardless of the employees' health status. A "small employer" is currently defined as a business with 2 to 50 full-time employees. Owners are generally counted as employees, so sole proprietorships with one employee fall into this category, as do partnerships without any employees (by definition partnerships have two or more partners).

California state law AB1672 says that small employers cannot be denied coverage as long as they:

• Pay their premiums.
• Have been in business longer than two months.
• Offer medical insurance coverage to all eligible full- and part-time employees.
• Comply with insurer requirements regarding employer contribution and employee participation.
• Have not committed fraud against the insurer.