Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Health Insurance Qualifying Event/Annual Enrollment Period
I mostly lurk on this board and I don't know if this is the right place to ask this question, but I would really appreciate your help.
DH and I will be TTC in the next 6 months so we're working on figuring out health insurance. We are each on our own separate employers' policies. However, DH's policy is much better for maternity care so I want to switch to his.
My annual enrollment period is next month and the plan year is from Aug 1-July 31st, so I would like to drop my coverage. My question is, DH's annual enrollment period is not until the end of the year, with the plan year beginning on January 1.
If I voluntarily drop my employer's coverage now, during this annual enrollment period, does this count as a qualifying event to start up with DH's? If not, how is it possible to switch to his as our enrollment periods will never coincide?
Re: Health Insurance Qualifying Event/Annual Enrollment Period
Your DH should talk to someone in Human Resources and ask for a health insurance change form. When I first started with my employer, a voluntary "loss of coverage" was not considered a qualifying event. Employees had to wait until the open enrollment period to add a spouse or dependents. Over the years, the employee contribution for insurance has increased dramatically and the rule changed, so people could add/drop coverage by stating the cost of insurance changed significantly.
he needs to ask his employer if he can add you due to you making a change during your open enrollment. some places it is a qualifying life event, some places it isn't.
When you've been married this long, you need a ticker to remind you.
Baby Boy M - 08/01/2013
I agree with the others- definitely ask at your work. The situation you describe is not a qualifying life event at my work.
By the way, kudos to you for thinking about this in advance. I had a high risk pregnancy and a preemie- our medical bills exceeded $300K (most paid by insurance). More than likely this will not be your situation, but in the off chance it is, you want to make sure to have the best coverage possible.
GL!