Mar 31, 2020
To help ensure access to health coverage, Blue Shield of California is providing a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) through June 30, 2020 for employees who previously declined coverage for themselves or their dependents. This applies to all fully insured small group (1-100) and large group (101+) employers, as well as MedSupp.
Self-funded plan sponsors typically determine the eligibility of group coverage, which is described in the group’s Plan Document.
SEP enrollees’ coverage will be effective:
- For an April 1, 2020 effective date, enrollment requests must be received no later than April 15, 2020
- For May 1, June 1, and July 1 effective dates, enrollment requests must be received on or before the first of the month being requested.
Please indicate your preferred effective date on the enrollment form.
Dependents enrolling during SEP must enroll in the same plan as the subscriber. Standard waiting periods are waived for this SEP, but other existing eligibility guidelines apply.
To enroll:
- Small group (1-100): Enrollment must be submitted on the paper enrollment or Subscriber Change Request (SCR) form, with the “Other qualifying event (specify)” box checked and indicating “COVID” as the Qualifying Event. No additional documentation is required
- Large groups (101+): SEP enrollments should be made through the group’s standard EDI (834) process. Groups that do not have EDI should contact their Blue Shield account team. Contact your account team if you have an immediate need to enroll employees. Blue Shield is in the process of reviewing retroactivity for April 1, 2020 enrollment dates
A special enrollment period is also in effect through June 30, 2020 for IFP members, both through Covered California and off-exchange.
Contact your LISI Regional Sales Manager for more information.
