Q.- Do we have to let an employee enroll her new child on our health plan when the child is born? The baby will have a lot of medical expenses and we would prefer to delay the coverage until our next open enrollment.
A.- Group health plans must, in certain circumstances, allow enrollment even if it is not the open enrollment period. The birth of a child gives rise to one of these special enrollment rights. Generally, the employee must ask to enroll the child within the first 30 days of birth.