Insurance Cancelled Without Notification

[Jwd]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? california

I've been recieving health insurance through my work. Money has been taken out of each paycheck to pay for it and I recieved a membership card. According to the insurance co. my coverage began on 1-1-08 and ended on 3-31-09. I was terminated on 4-8-09. My final paycheck was a handwritten check not a normal company payroll check so no insurance payment was deducted, this was not my idea. After my termination my former employer called the insurance carrier and told them that as of 3-31-09 I was no longer to be covered by the company plan. I was never notified of the cancellation.

Is this legal? Can an employer deny an employee the chance at continued coverage by issuing a handwritten paycheck(with zero deductions) rather than following the normal payroll procedure? Is an employer required by law to notify an employee(past or current) that they will or have cancelled that employees medical insurance?

Any advice is appreciated.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[CourtClerk]

How many employees in your company? Are you eligible for COBRA?

 

[ecmst12]

It is not uncommon for insurance to terminate as of the end of the month prior to termination, if that is all you were paid through. If you are eligible for Cobra and elect it and pay the premium, the coverage will be effective retroactive to the termination date, so you will have no gap.

 

[Jwd]

Thank you for the responses.

There are maybe a dozen employees, they come and go. I am eligable for CAL-COBRA, I just recieved the paperwork. What I was thinking is, if the employer had provided me with a normal payroll check with the normal deductions my insurance cost would have remained at a much lower cost at least for a little longer. The CAL-COBRA will cost me over twice as much as my normal deducted payment. It may not be a lot of money but every dollar counts these days. It seems to me that my employer was trying to get out of paying for his share of my insurance by keeping me off the official payroll and giving me a handwritten check. I was never given any option.

I question the legallity of issuing a paycheck without ANY deductions(taxes, social security, medicare, ect). But that's probably a question for a different forum.

 

[ecmst12]

It was not legal to issue a check without the proper tax deductions. It was perfectly legal for your employer to not pay for any part of your insurance in a month where you were not employed by him for most of. That part at least, was most likely proper.