Comments for healthmastermind.com

Comment on What happens with your health insurance while your on maternity leave? by mbrcatz

mbrcatz — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:17:42 +0000

You’ll have to ask your employer. At worst, you’ll have to cut a check for it. At best, the employer will advance it, and subtract what you owe out of the next paycheck(s) you get after you return to work.

Babies DO take 9 months to grow, so you’ve got time to put away some money and save for the extra costs.

Comment on What happens with your health insurance while your on maternity leave? by Marco's girl

Marco's girl — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:54:12 +0000

You will still be responsible for paying for your portion of the insurance payment. You should make an appointment with your Human Resource representative to find out how your company does this. They may deduct this from your pay upon returning, or they may require that he money be paid upfront or bi-weekly. It depends on the company you work for.

Comment on What happens with your health insurance while your on maternity leave? by Casey Y

Casey Y — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:08:38 +0000

You still have to pay it, you are still receiving the benefits of the policy. Contact your HR department to see how they handle it. You might be required to send them a check every week, or it might come out when you return.

Comment on What happens with your health insurance while your on maternity leave? by Freddy Fuhktarred

Freddy Fuhktarred — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:23:49 +0000

You still have to pay your insurance, even when you are out on FMLA. Most likely, the money will be deducted from your first paycheck when you get back. You might talk to HR and see if they can spread it out over a few checks, they might do this for you.

Comment on Canceling health insurance with the company your work for? by Insurance Helper

Insurance Helper — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 07:08:57 +0000

Please tell your friend at work NOT to cancel her group policy. The cost may be higher, but she may have a rude awakening on the back end of her personal insurance when something goes wrong. Personal insurance is notorious for “straining a gnat” when it comes to coverage.

Comment on Canceling health insurance with the company your work for? by mbrcatz

mbrcatz — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 06:20:54 +0000

Right. She cannot cancel her health insurance, unless she quits her job.

Getting new coverage with a different company is NOT a qualifying event, in accordance with the IRS, to allow you to CANCEL coverage.

Except for death or divorce, you can only ADD coverage, during a qualifying event. You can’t delete, except for open enrollment.

This is the law, and it’s an IRS tax law. It’s not the employer making this decision. Not only is it legal for the company to make her keep carrying coverage, it’s required for them to do it – by law.

If she’s dropping one plan, it will have to be the new plan. Sorry.

Comment on Canceling health insurance with the company your work for? by sarah314

sarah314 — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:28:49 +0000

Its from federal IRS regulations regarding pre-tax benefit plans.

There are very specific regulations from the IRS regarding open enrollments and when a person can drop coverage. The ONLY way to drop coverage when is not open enrollment is to have a “qualifying event.” (The HR department should be able to provide you/her a list of qualifying events, for reference.)

If she doesn’t meet the definition of a “qualifying event,” then she has to keep the coverage until open enrollment. There’s nothing that can be done, other than quitting the job. The employer’s hands are tied, due to the IRS regulations.

She should have investigated this BEFORE obtaining other coverage. These coverage rules/IRS regulations are very well-known and apply to ALL employers who offer such plans. This isn’t some new-fangled thing that your employer came up with on their own.

Comment on Canceling health insurance with the company your work for? by HGCity

HGCity — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:06:23 +0000

It is not the company that says this, it’s the insurance company. The insurance company only allows for changes during open enrollment or if there is a significant life event, such as marriage, birth of a child, death of an immediate family member, etc. This is the only time changes can be made.

Why does the insurance company do this? It prevents people from getting insurance only when they need it and not being insured when they don’t need insurance. For example, most people only visit the dentist once every 6 months. If an insurance company allowed participants to sign up and cancel their insurance at any time, then you could sign up for dental insurance the month that you are going to the dentist (so that the insurance company will pay) and then the next month cancel the policy because after all you won’t be going to the dentist for another 5 months. Then you could sign up for dental insurance the month you go to the dentist, then immediately cancel. While less common, the same thing can be true for health insurance. A person could decide to get health insurance one month, when they know they have to go to the doctor (i.e. they just came down with the flu and need to go to the doctor) and then once they are well again cancel their coverage.

I completely empathize with your co-worker. If a person doesn’t understand insurance very well, then it would make sense that the company should allow her to cancel her health insurance. Whoever helped her get health insurance through a different company should have reviewed this with her so she wouldn’t have to pay premiums for two health insurance policies.

Comment on Canceling health insurance with the company your work for? by jlf

jlf — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:42:06 +0000

Those rules are determined by the agreement made between the insurer issuing the group plan and her employer. She’ll have to wait until the “open enrollment” period.

Comment on Canceling health insurance with the company your work for? by rwa000

rwa000 — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:05:49 +0000

it is not the employer it is the Insurance company they have there rules and she must abide by them, they only way she can do it is with a qualifying event and getting other insurance doesn’t count, as one said she either quits or cancels he other insurance until open enrollment, it can’t be done any other way