Employee waivers

Employee waivers are official forms submitted to an employer to decline group health coverage.

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (opens in new tab), everyone is required to have health insurance. In some cases, however, employees may opt to waive group coverage offered by their employer.

Why would an employee choose to waive coverage? The most common reasons include:

They have coverage through a spouse or parent.
They have individual coverage.
They have Medicare (opens in new tab) or Medicaid (opens in new tab).
They have insurance through another employer.

Waiving coverage requires an employee to submit an official form to their employer letting them know they’re waiving coverage until the next Open Enrollment (opens in new tab) period. Employers may be asked to share these employee waivers with their insurance provider(s) if they have a participation requirement for their plans.