Is this legal?

mob102

My SIL is pregnant, has an elevated heart rated and really freaking out right now. 

My brother's company was bought out by a larger company, and there have been a lot of changes in recent weeks.

 My brother was informed that if your spouse is offered medical insurance through their company, then my brother's company will not cover the spouse.  AND if the spouse is currently covered by the company they will be dropped on January 1st.  My brother and SIL's baby is due at the end of January.  They have already paid the OBGYN.  They explained this to the new owners and their response was, well you didn't pay the insurance you paid the doctor.  Basically, not our problem.  My SIL's insurance sucks, which is why she is on my bro's plan.  I don't see how this is legal? 

AggieDee

Benefits are a perk not a legal right. 

michellebelle

AggieDee:

Benefits are a perk not a legal right. 

ditto. sorry.

mom2ll

DH's company won't allow a husband/wife to be on their insurance if the he/she can get insurance through their own employer.  I actually have to write a letter every year for his company that states that I don't provide myself insurance   We also pay a lot extra for me. 

mob102

Thank you.  I wish they would have brought this up last week, because my SIL's deadline was last week for open enrollment.  Sucks.  

It's just something they kept telling my brother about going around a grandfather clause that made me question the legality of it.  

almond1123

Have your SIL speak with her HR team.  Explain the change in her DH's policy.  They most likely will allow her to get on her policy now that she no longer qualifies for his.

Sorry.  Many employers are doing this now to save dollars.  It's very expensive to cover spouses (not being negative but especially female spouses.)  If your BIL is in a male dominated company it's even more likely that they adopt this policy.

duchessII81

almond1123:

Have your SIL speak with her HR team.  Explain the change in her DH's policy.  They most likely will allow her to get on her policy now that she no longer qualifies for his.

Sorry.  Many employers are doing this now to save dollars.  It's very expensive to cover spouses (not being negative but especially female spouses.)  If your BIL is in a male dominated company it's even more likely that they adopt this policy.

Losing insurance through your spouse was one of those 'life events' that allowed you to enroll/change insurance outside of open enrollment at my previous employer. I realize that can also be as company-specific as your BILs axing their spouse coverage but definitely worth checking out.

Good luck!

michellebelle

our company did this last year and in the rollout communications made it clear that spouses would most like meet the "loss of coverage" category of status changes that qualify someone to enroll in coverage outside the open enrollment period. then we did letters explaining the policy change so sposes could take that to their employer without waiting for their HIPAA certificates.  IF someone's company wouldnt let them on we required a letter from that company and allowed them to stay on for one more year so they could participate in open enrollment at their own company and not have a loss in coverage.

michellebelle

if neither of those options work she should qualify for COBRA which is cheaper than paying cash to have a baby

LMA06

That stinks I am so sorry for them. Your SIL should be able to enroll with her company under the "life event' clause since loss of coverage is considered a life event. She should contact her HR team immediately.

melissa0312

bpaullo:

DH's company won't allow a husband/wife to be on their insurance if the he/she can get insurance through their own employer. 

same here, and i work for a large school district.

can they do cobra for a few months to keep the same benefits through delivery and newborn checkups?

mob102

Sorry I have been very busy with work all day, I just got finished a little while ago.  There really is something fishy going on here with my brother's company.  My brother was talking to HR today and asked about Cobra information, and was told that they cannot Cobra????  That since their previous company was bought out by this company their insurance is basically a cobra already, which doesn't make any sense to me, at all.  I think my brother needs to go higher up.