Health plan open enroll vs cafe plan open enroll period

[Dawn Hafner]

An employer decides to change all of their insurance carriers (health, life, dental, etc). They provide for an open enrollment period mid year, which does not coincide with their open enrollment for cafeteria plan. Is this a problem, or is this considered a change for which employees can make a corresponding change in the cafe plan? This is a premium only plan.

Thanks.

[Lisa Hand]

Based on your description, it should be a change in cost or coverage. You also might want to review the enrollment forms and plan documents to see if they include langauge to automatically accommodate mid-year changes.

[Kirk Maldonado]

Lisa:

What do you think about changing the plan year as an alternative approach?