DH's insurance dropped me and the kids from insurance
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Anonymous
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DH supposedly did not fill out a dependent form and we have been dropped from his insurance. We never got notification that we were dropped. DH has no idea what form he did not fill out. They are saying we have to wait until open enrollment in November for January 1, 2016.
Did this ever happen to anyone? What can we do? |
Anonymous
| Has he talked to HR about it? If they're not in the loop, they often can make a call or two to the insurer and make things happen that you can't. If he's already gotten a no from them, I don't know, sorry! |
Anonymous
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Speak to DH's HR. This actually did happen to my coworker at a federal agency. HR hadn't filed the paperwork and she realized in the summer that she didn't have insurance. She just went without (this was 2 years ago), but now I think you'd need to go buy it on the Marketplace or you'd be fined.
I had similar issues with being on my DH's health and dental. He wouldn't remember to make changes or just wouldn't do it. And I couldn't do it for him since it was his work and not mine. Needless to say, we're now on my insurance instead. |
Anonymous
| Agree with PPs about talking to HR. If his company's HR can't fix the issue, if you are employed, talk to your HR about getting coverage through your job. You may be able to get covered outside of open season because you were dropped from your husband's insurance. |
Anonymous
| Did you get dropped, or did he just not enroll you for 2015? If you lost coverage, you should have received COBRA forms for you and the kids. Maybe his company is different, but typically changes outside of open enrollment are only if there is a qualifying life event (birth, death, marriage, divorce, job change, spouse loss of coverage, etc). If he didn't enroll you for 2015, I don't think there is much you can do. |
Anonymous
We got dropped. We were originally enrolled and had insurance. Then a form supposedly got sent to DH. We did not fill it out and we got dropped. DH has no idea what form this is. |
Anonymous
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Yikes. You've been without insurance since January, I assume? I don't even know if you can enroll in the marketplace insurance now, since your qualifying event was months ago. You definitely need to have your husband talk to HR and see if they can do anything. When I worked in HR I forgot to file a form once or twice and my insurance rep was able to backdate and get the coverage active.
If HR or the insurance company can't do anything... Have you had anything else happen that could be a qualifying event? Some things that might be qualifying event (these are not uniform across companies): - Becoming a dependent or gaining a dependent - Change in marital status - Change in employment status - Change in residence - FMLA leave - Entitlement to Medicare or Medicaid. If not, you have some options (neither of which is great): - Go uninsured and pay out of pocket. If the employer made the mistake, maybe they will reimburse you for some costs? - One of you find a new job and enroll in that plan upon starting - If the employer is really willing to work with you, they could terminate your husband and hire him a day later so he is elligible to enroll - If you rent, you could move (from VA to MD, MD to DC, etc) which is a qualifying event that will allow you to enroll in the state exchange |
Anonymous
| Didn't you notice when his take-home pay went up because you weren't paying for a family plan anymore? If this didn't happen and you've been paying for the family plan this whole time, it's probably just a clerical error and should be very easy to correct. |
Anonymous
We apparently got dropped in July. DH has only been working at this company since 2014. We had insurance when he enrolled. |
Anonymous
We have been paying for family insurance the entire time. |
Anonymous
| The form was probably to submit your marriage license. We had a year to submit that to keep a spouse on. Maybe birth certificates too? |
Anonymous
Could have been a dependent eligibility audit and he didn't complete the paperwork (usually filling a form and sending in copies of documentation). These are increasingly common to make sure only eligible dependents are covered on insurance plans -- if he missed the deadline, I don't think his HR dept will move mountains for him. You will in all likelihood have to wait until Jan 1 for coverage through his work again. If it was an employer mistake, they will fix it promptly (they have to). It doesn't sound like it was, though. Your DH needs to be more on top of stuff like filling out required forms, I'm sure he had multiple notices this was necessary! I'd be pissed if I were you. However, gaining/losing coverage is usually a Qualifying Life Event, so you might be able to change your coverage through your work if it's within the QLE period (usually 30 days or so) to include yourself and your children. |
Anonymous
Has the amount deducted from his paycheck changed? If the coverage was terminated in July, that's midyear since his plan has open enrollment in Nov and renewal in January. So, you should be eligible for COBRA. You are also probably still in the window to get on the state exchange. I would look into that ASAP (call the help number and talk to someone). You might want to get that coverage in place while you work out other options. |
Anonymous
If you've been paying for the family coverage, then they didn't fully drop you (because they can't charge you for coverage they're not providing). Have your husband call HR, this should be very easy to resolve. |
Anonymous
Well, either it's a clerical error that dropped you from the insurance and it will be easy to figure out, or it's a clerical error affecting his deducting in which case his employer needs to refund the difference. Have him have HR check what his actual premium is - it's very likely his actual premium decreased and HR just didn't change the deduction. |