Canceling health insurance with the company your work for?
A gal аt work іѕ having ѕοmе problems canceling hеr health insurance wіth thе company wе work fοr. Oυr company іѕ saying ѕhе CAN NOT cancel hеr health insurance policy wіth BCBS ѕіnсе іtѕ nοt open enrollment. Thе reason ѕhе wаntѕ tο cancel іѕ bесаυѕе ѕhе gοt coverage wіth a different company. Iѕ іt legal fοr ουr company tο ѕау ѕhе CAN NOT cancel hеr policy??? Hοw сουld ѕhе afford tο pay fοr both!
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. Check out this site, if you want to find the cheapest health insurance just in one minute,
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Best Wishes,
Yes, it is legal for them to continue her coverage unless she quits or is fired. She has to wait until open enrollment. Before getting other insurance, she should have checked with HR because it SAYS in the paperwork that changes only occur during open enrollment except for adding a new child or stepchild. Those are the rules that the company agreed to for this insurance package. She is stuck for it.
The above answerers are correct, you can only make changes during open enrollment, which comes up once a year. The time of year for open enrollment varies from company to company.
The only way you can make changes if you get married, have a baby, adopt a child, ect. These are considered life changing events.
If you are on an approved leave of absence, such as FMLA (medical, family medical and leave act), you might be able to cancel all of your benefits. I am on a leave of absence for back surgery at this time, and I got a letter in the mail explaining how I could cancel all benefits. Of course I wouldn’t want to do that, because my medical benefits are paying for the surgery!
It is not uncommon for people to have two insurance policies these days. Some have a secondary policy that fills in the gaps and pays for co-payments and co-insurance, or other amounts not covered by their primary (main) insurance. She could look into that as well, and talk with a customer servicre representative with the new insurance company about that option.
The only way to lose coverage through work is to lose her job. Of course, that is not what she wants to do, so she should try to get the new company to provide secondary coverage for now.
Good luck!