Taft-Hartley and union coverage

Health care coverage through a union, not an employer

Taft-Hartley plans and HAP

Many employers in the Detroit area participate in a Taft-Hartley plan. These union-centered health insurance plans allow employees to keep their coverage while switching between participating employers.

About half of our nearly 650,000 members are affiliated with union-represented companies. We have extensive experience with Taft-Hartley plans. If you have questions, contact us.

Contributions

Employers negotiate Taft-Hartley plans through collective bargaining, though the plans themselves are mostly paid through employees' union dues. Employers typically contribute to these plans at a flat rate calculated from the number of hours an employee works.

Eligibility

In Taft-Hartley plans, employees become eligible for coverage after working a negotiated number of hours. Those hours can be accumulated across a set time period and usually equal less than the number of hours in a full work week. This means that workers who may not be continuously employed, or those in the process of switching employers that participate in Taft-Hartley plans, are often still eligible for health insurance coverage.

Administration

Taft-Hartley plans are jointly administered by a board, which is made up of an equal number of members from employers and the union. A board often will contract administrative services to a third party administrator.