Many of us remember when employers provided an opt-out credit to employees who did not enroll in their medical coverage. Over time, as health care costs continued to rise, the opt-out credit was the first to go in most organizations. Then some employers, in an effort to control costs, began to replace the opt-out credit with a spousal surcharge. But is the opt-out credit poised for a return?
The opt-out credit provides employees with additional cash in their paychecks if they do not enroll in the employer’s health care plan and instead enroll in other coverage they have available to them. The spousal surcharge does the reverse – tacks on an additional cost to employees for enrolling a spouse into the employer health plan if the spouse has other coverage available to them.
