Grandfathered Health Plan Notice

Princeton University believes that the J-1 Visa medical plan is a grandfathered health plan under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). As permitted by the PPACA, a grandfathered health plan can preserve certain basic health coverage that was already in effect when that law was enacted. Being a grandfathered health plan means that your plan may not include certain consumer protections of the PPACA that apply to other plans, for example, the requirement for the provision of preventive health services without any cost sharing. However, grandfathered health plans must comply with certain other consumer protections in the PPACA, for example, the elimination of lifetime limits on benefits.

Questions regarding which protections apply and which protections do not apply to a grandfathered health plan and what might cause a plan to change from grandfathered health plan status can be directed to the Benefits Team or to Aetna member services using the phone number on your member ID card. In addition, you may also contact the Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor at (866) 444-3272. This website has a table summarizing which protections do and do not apply to grandfathered health plans.