Medical Expense✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 1/5
Under the small group guaranteed issue rules, an insurer must:
Select an option to reveal the answer and the full 3-part explanation — free, no signup.
Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
Guaranteed issue in the small group market means carriers must accept every eligible employer group without medical underwriting or health-status-based denials. The insurer may not reject a group because of the health, age, or claims history of its employees, and must renew coverage regardless of how claims develop. The rule keeps the risk pool broad and protects small employers from adverse selection — a core protection of the ACA-era market rules. Guaranteed issue removes the health question from the small-group door.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) Medical underwriting of employees is exactly what guaranteed issue prohibits; coverage is offered to all eligible groups on a uniform basis. Acceptance is uniform for all eligible employer groups instead.
- C) Rejecting a group because of the age or health of employees is a health-status-based denial, barred by guaranteed issue. Health-status-based denials are absolutely barred by the guaranteed-issue rule entirely.
- D) Waiting periods may appear as a plan-design feature in some group contracts, but they are not a permitted basis for refusing to accept a group. Waiting periods are a plan design feature, not an entry test.
Memory hook
Guaranteed issue = no health quiz at the small-group door. Every eligible group gets in and stays in.