The individual health insurance market will have two special open-enrollment periods for children this year. Parents who want to add their children to their individual health plans or buy child-only plans can do so from March 15-April 30, 2011 and from Sept. 15-Oct. 31, 2012.
This is ongoing from 2011 legislation and is WAC 284-43-985
You can read about the WAC here.
On Oct. 1, 2010, state law will consider 1 person a “group” for insurance purposes. This means that sole proprietors, for example, will now be able to apply for group coverage.
The law includes provisions to ensure that the business is bona fide. Depending on the way the business is set up, applicants may have to:
show that the business has been their employer for at least the past 12 months,
and show that at least 75 percent of their income has come from the business or trade. (For agricultural businesses, this requirement is 51 percent.)
For more information please visit the WA State insurance commissioner’s website here.