Oregon Small Employer Health Insurance (SEHI) Rules

You determine what a full time employee is based on hours worked on a regular basis. It can be from 17.5 to 40 hours per week.   You are required to offer health insurance to all full time employees that meet this work requirement.   You usually don’t have to duplicate coverage if your employee already has other group coverage.   You are allowed to offer different levels of coverage by employee class provided the insurance company allows it. Employee classes could include management, non-management, salaried, and hourly.   You are not required to pay more than 50% of the employee-only portion of the premium for an employee when 100% of eligible employees are required to participate in the plan.   You can establish a waiting period for new employees from 0 to 90 days before they are eligible for coverage. (NOTE: Employees who do not sign up in time can be limited or restricted from coverage for up to a full year.)   You have to meet insurance company participation requirements for employees and dependents, which vary by insurance company. Companies usually require 100% or 75% employee participation and 50% or 0% dependent participation in the group plan.   Insurance companies can only sell you products approved for the small group market by the State of Oregon Insurance Division.   You cannot use non-approved individual policies. You cannot reimburse employees through wage adjustments or otherwise for the purpose of buying their own health insurance.