Medical Insurance being Terminated

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 2:04 pm

Does an employer have a legal obligation to give advanced warning when contemplating cancellation of medical insurance?

Someone whose insurance is cancelled this week, has only two weeks to get enrolled or pay penalties per the ACA.

I may have two grand kids who may be in this predicament.

dgale · Post by **dgale** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 2:38 pm

I'm not sure about the time frame required (if any) for an employer to give notice but if I'm not mistaken any penalties under ACA for having no insurance have been postponed until late spring at the soonest - something like April or May, due to the website rollout problems and difficulties in getting signed up under new exchanges. FWIW, a few folks I know who have had to sign up or switch over have reported better success getting through lately and one of them was pleasantly surprised by better coverage for less $$...hopefully your Grandkids will have similar results.

As someone who was treated for childhood cancer (35 years in remission

), I had to deal with lots of insurance headaches back in the day (mid 80's through early 90s) as I became inelligible for my parent's policy due to age and then was deemed as a pre-existing condition person that no one wanted to provide coverage...it wasn't until I found long-term work with good job security and group health coverage that I was able to stop worrying about it, but it also became a huge factor in any job changing/career advancement decisions (ie going back to grad school) I made over the years...looking back now, I realize my career would have headed in different directions and I would have advanced more with the freedom to move around to better positions or pursue advanced degrees without fear of loss of insurance. Not trying to start a debate on ACA (I'd sooner debate religion or abortion at this point) but just self-reflective insight on someone who wishes at least the "no canceling/denying policies due to pre-existing conditions" portion was in place a long time ago. Having been through the fear and treatment of a life threatening disease at a young age, maintaining insurance became a #1 concern, which I doubt it was for most 20-somethings.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 2:43 pm

OH WOW. That SUCKS big time. I wood think that they wood have to give 30 days notice, but I don't know for sure. I do believe that they have till March 2014 to sign up. Can they do the "COBRA" thingie?

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 2:43 pm

OH WOW. That SUCKS big time. I wood think that they wood have to give 30 days notice, but I don't know for sure. I do believe that they have till March 2014 to sign up. Can they do the "COBRA" thingie?

dgale · Post by **dgale** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 2:59 pm

beeg wrote:OH WOW. That SUCKS big time. I wood think that they wood have to give 30 days notice, but I don't know for sure. I do believe that they have till March 2014 to sign up. Can they do the "COBRA" thingie?

To the best of my knowledge, by law any employee is eligible for COBRA when they lose their coverage for any reason (policy terminated, quit job, laid off etc.), but I think COBRA is fairly expensive and probably only a short-term solution for people who have to maintain their insurance for medical reasons until they find new coverage.

cincinnati · Post by **cincinnati** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 5:59 pm

dgale wrote:To the best of my knowledge, by law any employee is eligible for COBRA when they lose their coverage for any reason (policy terminated, quit job, laid off etc.), but I think COBRA is fairly expensive and probably only a short-term solution for people who have to maintain their insurance for medical reasons until they find new coverage.

COBRA is a law, not insurance. It is a law that you be able to keep your employers insurance for a set time (I think 6 months) It is only expensive because you now have to pay 100% of the cost instead of your employer paying most of the cost.

algale · Post by **algale** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 6:01 pm

Not my area of expertise, Dusty, but I do recall hearing that advance notice is required before an employer can terminate benefits.

cincinnati · Post by **cincinnati** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 6:05 pm

dusty wrote: Someone whose insurance is cancelled this week, has only two weeks to get enrolled or pay penalties per the ACA.

From https://www.healthcare.gov/what-if-some ... e-in-2014/

If you enroll in a Marketplace plan on March 31 your coverage begins on May 1. If you didn’t have coverage earlier in the year, you won’t have to pay a penalty for any of the previous months of 2014.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 6:06 pm

algale wrote:Not my area of expertise, Dusty, but I do recall hearing that advance notice is required before an employer can terminate benefits.

I do hope, for the kids' sakes, that they are not forced to make a quick decision.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 6:15 pm

cincinnati wrote:From https://www.healthcare.gov/what-if-someone-doesnt-have-health-coverage-in-2014/

If you enroll in a Marketplace plan on March 31 your coverage begins on May 1. If you didn’t have coverage earlier in the year, you won’t have to pay a penalty for any of the previous months of 2014.

Thank you for that link. I have forwarded it to the kids.

I suppose that they have already gone to the ACA web site but maybe I should go there. Since I am not eligible (Medicare), I may not be able to but I'll try.