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Health benefits cancelled

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NicoleA726

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?New York

I want to know if it is legal for the owner of my company to cancel all the employees health benefits without notifying us ahead of time. I have been without health insurance for 2 months and I still work here everyday??
Is this legal??????? :confused:
 


cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Nicole - this is a very important question as it can make a difference to the answer.

Do you know WHY the insurance was cancelled?
 

Beth3

Senior Member
Nicole, were you making a premium contribution towards the health insurance via payroll deduction? If so, did deductions continue to be made for those two months? Was the money refunded to you and the rest of the employees?
 

NicoleA726

Junior Member
Health Insurance Cancellled

I Am Assuming My Boss Didnt Pay The Bill

As Part Of My Employment I Was Given Health Benefits And I Did Not Have To Pay Any Money For Them.
I Had Them For Almost A Year
And Then One Day I Was Refilling A Presription At Cvs And They Told Me It Was Cancelled.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
That's what I suspected.

If you are correct, it's not that your policy was cancelled two months ago. In fact, chances are from what you've said, that they've only been cancelled a very short time - possibly a matter of days.

This is what happens, and trust me, I have seen this process more times than you would believe from the insurance carriers side, the plan administrator's side, and once in a while even the employer's side (we fired the accounting clerk :) ):

1. In mid November your employer received the bill for the month of December. It was due December 1.

2. For whatever reason, almost always because of cash shortages (your employer is covered on that policy too, why would he cancel it deliberately?) he doesn't pay the bill.

3.) On or about (give or take a few days either way) December 15 your employer receives a bill reminding him that December's premium has not yet been received. He is also at that time billed for January.

4.) A few days later, probably a few days either way of December 22, the employer is notified that if December's premium is not received within x days (probably by a date between January 1 and January 10, depending on the insurance carrier) the policy will be cancelled.

5.) The premium is not received (there's a lot of cash flow problems at the end of the year) and coverage is terminated RETROACTIVELY to November 1. Your employer couldn't tell you about it in November because it hadn't happened yet.

Following the usual procedure, you haven't been told about it because your employer is running around trying to get the policy reinstated and he's hoping you won't find out before he succeeds. (BTW, unless he has done this several times before, he most likely WILL succeed.)
 

NicoleA726

Junior Member
Is It Legal

I Want To Know If I Can Take Legal Action

Oxford Said I Havnt Been Covered Since Nov 30, 2004
My Paycheck Also Bounce The First Week In January.
That Is When I Found Out About The Benefits Being Cancelled
I Want To Know What Kinda Of Law If Any Did He Break By Cancelling The Insurance. I Need To Be Reimbursed For My Prescription Also
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
He broke no laws by cancelling the insurance. None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. It is legal for him to cancel the insurance. That's assuming that he actively made the decision to cancel it. If you are right and it was cancelled for non payment, HE didn't cancel it at all - the insurance company did.

I don't know what kind of requirement the state of NY has about notification. You can call the state insurance commission about that. While he did not break any laws by cancelling the insurance (if he did) he MAY have broken a state law by not telling you about it. (Again, if the insurance company is the one who cancelled it, he may not have broken any at all, especially if he is actively involved in trying to get it reinstated.)

The state insurance commission will also be able to tell you to what extent you can hold him liable for any unpaid medical bills. BTW, it is VERY likely that any legal action you can take will be limited to exactly that - the cost of any bills your insurance would have paid for. You're not going to get rich on this.

I would very strongly suggest that you talk to your employer BEFORE you call the insurance commission and find out what he says happened and what he is willing to do. You may need that information in your conversation with the insurance commission.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Oh - you can file a complaint with the state DOL about the bounced paycheck.
 

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