(a) A multiple employer welfare arrangement shall obtain a written waiver from each employee who meets the participation criteria and declines coverage under a health plan offered to an employer. The waiver must ensure that the employee was not induced or pressured to decline coverage because of the employee's health status related factors.
(b) A multiple employer welfare arrangement may not provide coverage to an employer or the employees of an employer if the arrangement or an agent for the arrangement knows that the employer has induced or pressured an employee who meets the participation criteria or a dependent of the employee to decline coverage because of that individual's health status related factors.