Franchises

[justatester]

Hi-I am working on a plan that is in the process of setting up franchises. My question: are franchises considered Affiliated Service Groups for coverage purposes? If yes, is there every a time that they would not be? They are trying to determine the impact of the NDT testing. Can they exclude those employees from the plan?

[Guest Sieve]

What part of the ASG rules would apply? Generally, franchises are independently owned and the only connection with the mother franchise is payment of certain fees, use of certain procedures or equipment or products or franchise layouts, etc. Off the top (without reviewing the rules once again), I'm wondering what the ASG issues would be.