enrollment document retention

mushroomHR

For how long of a period do you keep copies of employees' enrollment forms into your health insurance program? I don't know if there is a regulation for retention of these documents or not and they are taking up a lot of room in my files. I can't put them in storage becuase of their sensitivity and would like to begin shredding the old ones. Does anyone know how long these must be kept? Thanks.

lnelson

They should be kept for 4 yrs after termination of contract from carrier.
But I usually keep them for 7 yrs.

ritamcguire

Is this just your company's policy or is it stated in some regulation? Being a 50 year old company, we also have massive amounts of old outdated enrollment forms that I would like to shred.

irenesmsaclaims

If your company is subject to ERISA, it's regulations require that any documents which support the 5500 filings be kept for at least 6 years; this also applies to plan documents, SPDs, etc. and administrative forms, which I would consider enrollment forms to be. I just happened to see this today. If not subject to ERISA, I think it may come under the DOL.

ritamcguire

Thanks! That's more than I knew yesterday. Six years sounds reasonable and we can still clear out 40+ years of useless records.

irenesmsaclaims

Don't shred yet!!! I further researched and if your state has statutes regarding the time limits on claim appeals, you would want to check that. An enrollment form could contain information relevant to a claim appeal (misstatements), and the state statute could prevail over the ERISA requirement of 6 years.

ritamcguire

Good point! Thanks again.