Can I Be Required To Join My Employer's Healthcare Plan As A Condition Of Employment?

If your employer pays part of or your entire health insurance premium, it can require you to participate in the health plan. There is no law that prohibits an employer from doing so.

This requirement may seem 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.

Why You May Have To Join Your Employer’s Health Plan

Employers may demand employee participation in the company's health plan because in some states the insurer can impose "minimum participation" requirements. The insurer may stipulate, for example, that 85 percent of the company's employees must belong to the health plan in order for the insurer to cover the group. This is to make certain that the plan participants represent a mix of healthy and unhealthy employees.

If only the "sick" employees who needed to take advantage of the covered benefits joined the plan, the high number of resulting claims would cause the cost of the plan to soar and threaten it with financial collapse, a phenomenon known as "adverse selection."