insurance contracts

[xybernut]

I live in Colorado, recently sighned up for health insurance in December that is provided by my employer. tried to cancel when i discovered that i was working for insurance coverage. The benefits mngr. told me that i had entered a legally binding contract and could not cancel my coverage until december. I asked for that in writing, and recieved nothing at this point. If i chose to purchase insurance, should i be able to cancel?

 

[ALawyer]

This is really an issue of employment law and policy, not insurance or contract law.

The administrators at most employers are lazy and hate making monthly changes to their payroll deductions and systems, and try to lock everyone in for a full year. That makes their job easier. You are buying insurance thru the company, which makes deductions from your salary and pays the insurer, usually on a list billing basis.

There is probably no law that says you have to keep the insurance, just employer rules that it is reluctant to change, and will not do so unless it it feels compelled to. In most companies you can change midyear only for certain causes, such as a marriage, death, birth, etc. But the good news is if you quit the deductions would stop. That may be your only choice.

 

[cbg]

It may be that the insurance contract is for a specific period. If this is group insurance, provided by the employer, under a Section 125 plan, then it is quite true that you can only drop coverage outside the terms of the contract for very specific reasons which are set up by the IRS. Since the premiums on a 125 plan are paid pre-tax, it is federally regulated.