 Question
Are employers legally required to provide their workers with health insurance?
Answer
There are no state or federal laws that require private U.S. employers to offer health insurance benefits to any employees at all. Nevertheless, it is common practice, especially among larger employers, to offer health insurance benefits as a means to attract and retain workers. It is up to each company to decide which employees will be offered health coverage, as long as it is done equitably, because private employers aren't required to offer health insurance.
A lot of employers offer health benefits only to full-time employees. The quantity of hours an employee must work each week to qualify as a full-timer depends on the individual employer. Generally, most have a cut-off in the 30- to 35-hour a week range. More liberal employers might offer benefits to those working just 25 hours a week.
Among those most likely not to have health insurance are young adults in the 18- to 24-year-old age group, people with lower levels of education, people of Hispanic origin, those who work part time, and people born in another country, says a 1999 U.S. Census Bureau report.
You should also know that although private employers are not required to offer health insurance initially, once they do offer such coverage, they become subject to a variety of state and federal laws that dictate such things as what kind of benefits to provide and continuation of coverage. For example, employers with more than 20 full-time workers that offer health insurance must offer continuation coverage called COBRA under certain circumstances. HIPAA is another law, which guarantees certain rights for people who have pre-existing medical conditions.
Question
Can my employer require that I join the company's health plan as a condition of my employment?
Answer
Your employer can require you to participate in the health plan, if he pays part or all of your health insurance premium. There is no law that prohibits an employer from doing so. You may think that this requirement is unfair, but consider other conditions employers routinely dictate to their employees, including job-related travel, adherence to dress codes, and participation in employer-sponsored workshops or classes.
| 
