Health Insurance Coverage

[kwalla]

What is the name of your state? New York

My employer notified everyone by mail that their spouses were no longer going to be covered.

They state that if a spouse is able to obtain health insurance from his/her employer, that person must do so and cannot remain covered under their spouse's plan.

With this letter, they have also raised our premiums.

We pay premiums for single, single +1 and/or single +2 or more.

I am sure my employer would not have done this if it was not legal. However, do employees have any recourse (other than looking for another job) ?

 

[cbg]

It is not only legal, it is getting to be quite common. The cost of health insurance is prohibitive and getting worse all the time. Unless they are located in Hawaii, no employer is required by law to provide any health insurance at all, let alone to dependents. Many wish to continue to do so as it is an expected benefit and they want to stay competitive. However, many are finding that they have to cut out spouses with access to other coverage or increase employee premium costs or both, if they want to be able to offer insurance at all.

If by recourse you mean, can you legally prevent the employer from cutting spousal coverage/increasing premium or sue him for doing so, the answer is no, you can't.

 

[kwalla]

Thank you very much for your response.