Illinois Group Health Insurance

As its name implies, Illinois group health insurance is generally sold to groups of people. The most common type of group that’s covered by Illinois group health insurance is the employment roster of a business, non-profit organization or government unit, like a police or fire department. Other types of organizations, such as professional organizations and labor unions, are eligible to apply for and be covered by Illinois group health insurance, though.

How to Set Up Illinois Group Health Insurance

Any organization that wants to provide Illinois group health insurance to its employees or members – or both – can consult with a reputable insurance company to review eligibility requirements, coverage and rates. The organization has some leeway in determining what sort of coverage is offered, and has complete control over the type of insurance to be offered – they can choose among traditional major medical plans, Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs).

Employer-provided Illinois Group Health Insurance

Historically, the employees of a large company could expect that most or all of their premiums would be paid by the employer. That’s no longer the case, and most employees must pay a significant portion of the premium cost. The advantage to group health insurance, though, is that the premiums aren’t risk-based, they’re based on the group as a whole, and each member of the group pays the same rate. Premium rate changes from one year to the next are based on healthcare costs in general and the group’s actual claims experience. Illinois group health insurance policies issued to employers typically sometimes don’t carry any restriction on pre-existing conditions; in other cases, some conditions won’t be covered until the employee’s been in the group for a certain period of time, usually six months to a year.

Other Types of Groups

Other groups may also offer Illinois group health insurance to their members; professional, religious and service organizations are examples of such groups. When one of these membership associations establishes group health insurance, members who enroll typically assume the entire premium cost and the association doesn’t pay anything. There might be more restrictions on such policies, such as exclusions for pre-existing conditions, and the premiums, while generally higher than those in employer groups, are still lower than those available for individuals.

Labor unions are a special kind of group with respect to Illinois group health insurance programs. Often they’ll create health insurance plans for the purpose of insuring their members and other employees of the companies with which they have collective bargaining agreements. For their members, this coverage is portable, so that as they move from one employer to another, they don’t have to go through the bureaucratic requirements of new applications, etc. This coverage remains in force while the worker is between assignments, and is extremely valuable to those in such industries as shipping and carpentry, where employment routinely shifts from one employer to another during the course of an average year. Illinoishealth.com can help you find health insurance quotes Illinois for group health plans.

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