Employer cancels insurance plan

[Cathy Hill]

My daughter-in-law's employer cancelled health insurance for all employees (300+) effective March 31. The company is going to give the employees an insurance allowance and each employee will be responsible for getting his or her own policy. The problem with this is that my daughter-in-law is 8 months pregnant. The baby is due March 12, so she will just come under the wire as far as the delivery goes. But, she can't apply for an individual policy at this point in time because of the pregnancy. She can go into the Texas Pool at a much greater premium than she would pay for an individual policy. She will have to wait until she and the baby get a "clean bill of health" before she can apply for individual coverage outside the Pool. Does she have any legal remedy for this?

 

[ALawyer]

She should check the policy and see if there were any conversion rights granted employees in the event of cancellation, and call the Texas Insurance Department to see if there are any Texas laws that protect her (but I doubt it).

But there is good news. The employer could been Enron and fired her also.