HIPAA Special Enrollment Rights

This practice note will get you up to speed on special enrollment rules that require employer sponsors of group health plans to allow employees to enroll themselves or their eligible dependents in group health plans upon the occurrence of certain specified events (i.e., outside of the sponsor's open enrollment period). These rules, which apply to plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), were implemented via the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Learn about the requirements and conditions necessary for an employee to obtain coverage during a special enrollment period, and the information employers must provide to employees notifying them of their HIPAA special enrollment rights.

Read now »

Related Content

• HIPAA Request for Accounting of PHI Disclosures
  Use this template for an employer-sponsored group health plan to allow individuals to ask for information about the plan’s disclosures of their protected health information (PHI). Plan participants (and their covered spouses and dependents) have a right to receive this information under the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Although drafted for a group health plan, you can modify this template for use by other types of HIPAA covered entities, including healthcare providers.
• HIPAA Regulatory Enforcement Tracker
  Monitor enforcement actions taken by, and guidance from, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding compliance with HIPAA rules. This tracker features cases involving precedential interpretations, significant consequences for infringing companies, or both.
• HIPAA Resource Kit
  Refer to this resource kit for detailed Practical Guidance content—including practice notes, checklists, templates, and clauses—on the application of HIPAA and its impact on employers and the group health plans they sponsor.

 
Practical Guidance Updates
Featuring the latest updates from your Practical Guidance account.   

• The Practical Guidance Journal Fall Edition features impacts of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on employers, healthcare, insurance, and privacy concerns, and tracks the status of state law changes.
• Legal Developments provide the latest updates and analyses of emerging topics impacting healthcare. Visit the Legal Developments page to see breaking healthcare legal news—notably on the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision—and related Practical Guidance content.
• Listen Up! Access our growing collection of podcasts by navigating to the Practical Guidance Podcasts Resource Kit, which collects Practical Guidance podcasts that address various issues across relevant Practical Guidance practice areas.
• Check out the new Practical Guidance Author Center! Learn about the 1750+ leading attorney authors contributing to our 22 practice areas, and find out how you can Become a Practical Guidance Author.​​​​​​ 
• Document alerts allow you to stay current on legal developments that affect your practice. Find out how to set up your document alerts.

Experience results today with practical guidance, legal research, and data-driven insights—all in one place.

Experience Lexis+