Who Is Actually on Your Plan
Family tiers cost multiples of employee-only coverage, and eligibility for them is rarely revisited once set. Over years, plans quietly accumulate people who no longer qualify: a divorced spouse never removed, a child past the age limit, a stepchild from a household that changed. Nobody is being dishonest. The paperwork simply never caught up.
Every one of those is being paid for monthly, and on a self-funded or level-funded arrangement every claim they generate is yours as well. On an insured plan it feeds into the experience that will price your next renewal once your group is large enough for that to matter.
How a Dependent Review Actually Runs
Announce It in Advance and Explain Why
because a review sprung on people reads as an accusation rather than as housekeeping
Ask for Ordinary Documentation — a Marriage Certificate
a birth certificate, a tax return page — and be specific about what will satisfy you
Give a Genuine Window and an Amnesty
so anyone who knows about a problem can fix it without consequence
Apply the Same Standard to Everyone
including owners and managers, which is both fairer and safer
The Age Limit Is the One That Slips
Coverage for a child generally runs to the end of the month in which they turn twenty-six, and that date arrives without anyone being reminded. When it passes unnoticed the plan keeps paying, and when it is eventually caught the correction can be awkward and, past a certain point, uncorrectable. Some carriers will not adjust billing beyond a hundred and twenty days.
A simple monthly report of dependants approaching the limit removes the whole problem. It is the kind of thing that should already be running and usually is not.
Related Obligations Worth Noting
Losing Dependent Status Is a Qualifying Event
which starts the continuation clocks in the normal way
Continuation Coverage Applies at Twenty
Michigan sets no smaller-employer rule beneath it.
A dependant reaching Medicare eligibility brings the annual creditable
coverage notice into play
Contribution structures that price the family tier steeply will suppress enrollment
That has its own effect on how the plan is rated.
Dependent Questions From Davison Employers
Is a dependent review worth doing on a small plan?
Often, yes. The savings are per person per month and they continue indefinitely, which makes even a handful of corrections worthwhile.
Can we simply drop someone we think is ineligible?
Not without a proper process. Handle it as a documented review with notice and a window, not as a unilateral removal.
A Flint Suburb With Schools at Its Core
Davison is a Genesee County city of 5,143 residents (2020 census) and a suburb of Flint, sitting inside Davison Township near the Lapeer County line. The I-69 and M-15 corridors carry residents to jobs across the region. Davison Community Schools is a major local employer, with about 718 full-time-equivalent staff serving 5,460 students in 2024-25. Countywide, data from the Flint and Genesee Group puts General Motors at 7,500 Genesee County employees, and the medical sector accounts for more than 10,000 jobs among the county’s largest employers. Many Davison workers commute to those plants, hospitals and offices, which shapes how employers here should think about provider networks, plan design and cost sharing.
Build Networks Around Flint-Area Care
Davison employees often see doctors and use hospitals in and around Flint. We check that the Flint-area health systems your people already use are in-network, and compare how each carrier’s network reaches into Lapeer County for employees who live east of town. Where coverage is uneven, we show broader and narrower network costs side by side.
Compete With Large Employer Benefits
Local businesses hire from the same pool as General Motors, school districts and Genesee County health systems, which tend to offer rich benefits. We benchmark your contributions and deductibles against realistic alternatives so your offer stays competitive without committing to costs your budget cannot carry. We also look at dental and vision.
Look Beyond the Standard Renewal
Small employers in Davison often see renewal increases with little explanation. We review claims-based options like level-funded plans where they fit, explain the stop-loss protections involved, and compare them against fully insured coverage so you can decide with the numbers in front of you. We also flag any carrier requirements.
Give Owners an ICHRA Option
For very small employers, an individual coverage HRA lets you set a fixed monthly allowance while employees pick an individual plan that fits their doctors. We explain the class rules, affordability test and notice requirements, and check what individual plans are available in Genesee County. We also compare it with small-group coverage.
Start With the Enrollment Report
Send the renewal letter, plan summary, contribution by tier and enrollment by tier, plus two more documents at fifty or more, along with your enrollment report, and we will show where the cost sits. 248.370.8853 or info@cfhic.com.
Start the Review Email info@cfhic.com Call 248.370.8853
An independent employee benefits consulting firm. We look at the entire benefits program — cost, plan performance, risk and administration.
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
248.370.8853
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719.425.2649
Houston, TX 77084
281.404.5670
Paying family rates for people who left the household years ago? Look at how switching to CFH works.
Related: how we help employers improve workforce health and control healthcare costs all year, not just at renewal.
