UHC/Oxford Has Extended the Relaxation of Their Actively At Work Provision to 20 Weeks

Posted on May 15, 2020

UHC/Oxford Has Extended the Relaxation of Their Actively At Work Provision

UHC/Oxford has announced that they have extended the time they will allow furloughs/temporary lay offs to stay on a policy from 13 weeks (originally set to expire on May 31) to 20 weeks.

Below is UnitedHealthcares FAQ regarding this policy

Are customers able to continue employee health benefits if part of the workforce is laid-off in response to the COVI0-19 crisis?

United Healthcare is extending allowed non-medical leave/furlough to 20 weeks. There is no change to medical leave.

Temporarily UnitedHealthcare will allow it if the plan sponsor continues to pay its premiums and offers the option to all furloughed employees on an equal basis. However, it is important to make a distinction between individuals whose employment is terminated (often “laid-off’ means terminated) versus individuals still employed but experiencing a temporary reduction of hours but remains employed. In those situations where the individual continues to be employed but may have seen a reduction in work or been put on furlough as a result of COVID-19 crisis, we will temporarily not enforce insurance contractual requirements that mandate active at work status or minimum hours where we continue to receive full premium and the employer applies this approach to all such employees on an equal basis.

If the employee is on a customer-approved leave of absence/furlough and the customer continues to pay required medical premiums, the coverage will remain in force for:

• No longer than 20 consecutive weeks for non-medical leaves (i.e., temporarily laid off)

• No longer than 26 consecutive weeks for a medical leave

Note coverage may be extended, if required by local, state or federal rules.

However, if an employee is terminated, the normal termination rules apply. Note: ASO clients can set their own timeline for continuation for furloughed employees.