#0 Days to addnew dependent starts WHEN?

[nextwife]

What is the name of your state? They are in IL

I'm trying to help someone on one of my adoption webgroups. They recently recieved word that their Bulgarian adoption is now complete and they are finishing arrangements for their adoption facilitator to escort their new child (age 3) to O'Hare.

The problem is that their health insurer is giving them a hard time about adding their child using a 30 day window. This is because the FINALLY recieved legal translation of the original court order was not presented to the insurer within 30 days of the "court approval" (which is what they claim is the date of the adoption). However, the court approval in that country is NOT the final step, and a two week "publication period" which is followed by an up to 30 day wait for the judge to sign to adoptive birth certificate occurs BEFORE the child is legally theirs. And then legal translation takes some time as well AND is only started after every last step is completed- I doubt the insurer would have added the child even if they HAD sent them the decree - in cyrillic Bulgarian.

I suggested they talk to their HR department and explain the process is not the same, so the 30 days whould not start at the court date, but at signing the adoption certificate.

Any suggestions? They need to have their child covered and never expected to run into a problem adding them They faxed the docs to insurer within 24 hours of reciept from their Bulgaria adoption facilitator.

[cbg]

As a long-time HR professional, I can tell you that explaining the process to HR is not going to solve the problem. That's not where the hold-up is, and HR does NOT have the authority to override the insurance carrier.

Your friends need to have a lawyer involved in this. You might also refer them to their state insurance commissioner to see if there are any state or local statutes that might help them.

[porcelina68]

Call the customer service area. They can tell you the steps you would need to follow. This decision CAN be appealed.