What do MEC plans not cover?

Asked by: Tyrell Cartwright  |  Last update: September 16, 2025
Score: 4.5/5 (24 votes)

Limited Coverage: While MEC plans meet ACA requirements, they offer limited coverage compared to more comprehensive health insurance options. They often cover only preventive services and may not provide coverage for major medical expenses, such as surgeries or hospital stays.

What is covered under a MEC plan?

MEC plans enable employees to access essential health services and preventive care. By providing health coverage for routine check-ups, screenings, and treatments, these plans help employees avoid the high costs of paying for these services themselves.

What is not covered under a health benefit plan?

Health insurance typically covers most doctor and hospital visits, prescription drugs, wellness care, and medical devices. Most health insurance will not cover elective or cosmetic procedures, beauty treatments, off-label drug use, or brand-new technologies.

Are MEC plans worth it?

MEC plans are viable healthcare options for individuals, families, and many types of businesses, but they are especially important for ALEs. If your business employs at least 50 full-time or FTE employees, you can face thousands of dollars in annual tax penalties for not offering MEC plans to enough of your employees.

What is not a form of minimum essential coverage?

Most Medicaid coverage is considered minimum essential coverage, but family planning Medicaid, tuberculosis-specific Medicaid, and emergency-only Medicaid are not. Pregnancy-related Medicaid and medically needy Medicaid may or may not be considered MEC, depending on the state.

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45 related questions found

Which of the following plans is not required to meet minimum essential coverage?

Health Insurance That Does Not Meet MEC Requirements

They include: Stand-alone dental and vision plans. Accident or disability income insurance. Short-term medical or temporary insurance.

What is a MEC insurance policy?

A modified endowment contract (MEC) is a cash value life insurance policy that gets stripped of many tax benefits. 2. MECs ended a popular way to shelter money from taxes. 3. The “seven-pay” test determines if a policy will become a MEC.

What is included in MEC?

Standard MEC plans are ACA compliant and include coverage for wellness, preventative services, prescription discounts, and telehealth services.

What is the best healthcare plan in America?

Best Health Insurance Companies for 2025
  • Best Overall and Best for Self-Employed: Kaiser Permanente.
  • Best Widely Available Plans: UnitedHealthcare.
  • Best for Low Complaints and Best for Chronic Conditions: Aetna.
  • Most Affordable: Molina Healthcare.

Can MEC plans be self-funded?

A Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) plan is a self-funded benefit plan that covers preventative services only as outlined and required by the Affordable Care Act. These services are determined by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

Which health insurance company denies the most claims?

According to the analysis, AvMed and UnitedHealthcare tied for the highest denial rate, with both companies denying about a third of in-network claims for plans sold on the Marketplace in 2023, respectively.

What are the 6 things Medicare doesn't cover?

Some of the items and services Medicare doesn't cover include:
  • Eye exams (for prescription eyeglasses)
  • Long-term care.
  • Cosmetic surgery.
  • Massage therapy.
  • Routine physical exams.
  • Hearing aids and exams for fitting them.

What is excluded from coverage?

An exclusion is a provision within an insurance policy that eliminates coverage for certain acts, property, types of damage or locations. Things that are excluded are not covered by the plan, and excluded costs don't count towards the plan's total out-of-pocket maximum.

What policies are deemed a MEC?

A modified endowment contract (MEC) is a cash-value life insurance policy that has been overfunded—typically in the first seven years--causing the IRS to strip it of its status as an insurance contract and consider it an investment vehicle.

Do MEC receive different tax treatment?

MECs are taxed differently than life insurance policies. Unlike a standard life insurance contract, money you withdraw from an MEC comes first from your earnings and then your principal. These earnings are included in your taxable income. In addition, a policy loan is treated as a withdrawal, and the gains are taxable.

What are the 2 most common health insurance plans?

Before choosing a health insurance policy for yourself, your family, or your employees, you must know what types are available. Some popular health insurance policy options are: Preferred provider organization (PPO) plans. Health maintenance organization (HMO) plans.

Who might benefit from supplemental insurance and why?

Who buys supplemental insurance coverage and why? You may be a right fit for additional insurance coverage if you: Have a family history of certain types of diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, etc. Want additional financial protection in the event of unexpected accidents or injuries.

What does a MEC plan cover?

MEC plans generally cover preventive and wellness-related tests and treatments. While they meet specific requirements outlined under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and ERISA, they are not what most think of as traditional health insurance.

What are the main features of the MEC?

Benefits of MEC

The multi-access edge computing environment enables ultra-low latency and high bandwidth, along with data and radio network information that can be used by applications in real-time. Radio access networks (RAN) are crucial connection points between end user devices and the rest of an operator's network.

What are the benefits of a MEC?

Pros Explained

Some individuals may benefit from purchasing an MEC, even if not for life insurance, because it often offers a higher yield on effectively riskless money; a better return than savings accounts or certificates of deposit (CDs).

How to avoid a MEC?

This is called the 7-pay limit or MEC limit, and is based on rules established by the Internal Revenue Code, setting the maximum amount of premium that can be paid into the contract during the first seven years from the date of issue in order to avoid MEC status.

Are all MEC plans self funded?

Is a MEC plan fully insured? They are offered as both self-funded and fully insured.

What is an example of a MEC?

For example, if a MEC contract comes with a principal of $200,000 and pays a 10% interest, then the contract will grow by $20,000 in the year. If the policyholder decides to withdraw the gain, it is considered ordinary income and would be taxed first.