What Does Grandfathered Status Mean In Health Insurance? 
Under the Affordable Care Act , Plans that were effective on March 23 , 2010 are `` grandfathered '' assuming they meet certain specific requirements . Even if you changed health insurance companies , you could still have maintained your grandfathered status as long as other changes to benefits still meet the required guidelines . This feature was updated in November of 2010 . One example of the requirements is that the employer can not substantially increase the out of pocket costs -LRB- your deductible , for example -RRB- . 