Group Disability Insurance in the Growing Gig Economy
Customize your policy alerts
Sign up for Alabama Department of Insurance Policy 2020-08 alerts
Get alerted when Policy 2020-08 changes without checking for updates manually.
Monitor payer policy activity
This bulletin states the Department's position on which groups qualify for group disability insurance under Ala. Code §27-20-1, clarifying that certain independent contractors and gig-economy workers may be eligible. It applies to insurers writing health insurance in Alabama.
No material clinical or coverage changes in this revision.
Group Disability Insurance Eligibility Criteria
Eligibility criteria
Covered when ALL of the following are met:
ALL of the following
- The statute's definition of 'employees' includes officers, managers, individual proprietors, partners, and employees of subsidiary or affiliated corporations or businesses under common control (stock ownership, contract, or otherwise).
- Independent contractors are not included in the statutory definition of 'employees' in §27-20-1(1).
ALL of the following
- Commissioner discretion: Under §27-20-1(5), the Commissioner may recognize 'any other substantially similar group' as eligible for group disability coverage.
- Department interpretation: the Commissioner (via the Department) deems appropriate to include individuals engaged with a business as independent contractors and other flexible or temporary workers as eligible for coverage under a group disability policy or contract.
Department Direction for Insurers / Providers
Eligibility expansion — include independent contractors and flexible/temporary workers
The Department will recognize as eligible for group disability coverage individuals engaged with a business as independent contractors and other flexible or temporary workers, under the commissioner’s discretion in Ala. Code §27-20-1(5). Insurers should treat such individuals as part of an eligible group when issuing group disability policies or contracts where the group is otherwise substantially similar to statutory employee groups.
- This expansion is based on the commissioner’s authority to recognize “any other substantially similar group” under §27-20-1(5).
- The bulletin explicitly deems appropriate inclusion of independent contractors and flexible or temporary employees for group disability coverage.
Key Definitions Used in This Bulletin
OpenPayer is powered by Trek Health's payer performance platform. Trek continuously ingests, validates, and normalizes Transparency in Coverage data alongside payer policies and other commercial payer data to create a structured payer intelligence foundation. OpenPayer uses this foundation to deliver personalized search results, dynamically generated policy pages, and tailored policy monitoring based on each user's payers, specialties, billing codes, and areas of interest. The same intelligence powers broader payer performance workflows, including reimbursement benchmarking, contract evaluation, payer negotiations, and financial decision-making.