Medical Insurance Woes

[K]

I am writing for my 24yr. old daughter. Her only access to a computer is at work.
She moved to CA and took an Adminstra-tive Assist. job with a small software company on July 5, 1999. She was told that she would have medical insurance on October 5, 1999, although she received nothing in writing showing her benefits. On Oct. 21st she had to have an emergency appendectomy and did not have any med. ins. She said the company was in the process of changing to a new insurance company and since she would be covered as of Nov. 1st, they just did not bother to enroll her under the old ins. All other employees with the company had med. ins. after 3 mos.
Now come all the hospital bills, approx. $14,000. While she was hospitalized, her boss told her not to worry, he would work something out with the bills.
This week, however, he approached her and said that so the other employees don't thing she's getting special treatment, he would like to give her a raise, enough to cover payments on her hospital bill. No $ amount mentioned. Even with a very substantial raise, the bill will take years to pay off and even though she loves the job now, should she ever become dissatisfied, the job could become like a ball & chain.
Her question is, does he have any obligation to take care of these bills or should she just be grateful that he's willing to work with her on this?
Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ex-HR Guy]

My guess is someone at the company screwed up badly, and the boss is trying to handle it in a political way, so as not to make waves.

She should say she is greatful that he wants to do right by her, but that she'd like to earn the raises for her good performance and not be blocked from doing so because of they already were paying her over grade. Also, she has to pay the hospital bill now, not over the next few years. And remind him that the raise is fully taxable -- medical insurance payments are not -- and it costs the company more as they pay matching payroll taxes, etc. (Remember too they could renege down the road.) Be nice, but ask that he please try another approach.

 

[K]

Thank you so much for your response, but please clarify. Does her boss not have a legal obligation to cover these bills, since all the other employees were covered by insurance after the 90 days?

 

[Attorney_Replogle]

Ma'am, it sounds that you are saying that your daughter was induced by her employer, to move to CA to take her current job. As part of this inducement she was told that she would have medical benefits on October 5, 1999. She never got those benefits. Therefore, this sounds like the employer violated CA Labor Code Section 970-972. These prohibit false representations by employers to have employees or potential employees move his/her residence to take a job. The false representation in this case deals with the "(b) The length of time such work will last, or the compensation therefor"; section 970. So your daughter could potentially recover double her damages (the medical bills of $14,000+) resulting from these misrepresentations. My advice would be to consult with an attorney with the goal of obtaining an immediate out-of-court settlement to pay the medical bills and fix her credit. After all, I'm sure the big three credit reporting agencies have been notified of her failure to pay "her" bills.

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Mark B. Replogle

 

[K]

No, I'm sorry I did not make myself clear. She moved to CA with no job on the horizon. Applied at this company and was told she would have med. ins. in 3 mos. She was not induced by this company to move there. It was just her dream to live in CA and what a nightmare it's turned out to be.

 

[Attorney_Replogle]

Dear K: Well, I understand now. However, your daughter should still seek the advice of an attorney because she may have a contract claim against her employer. In other words if part of her compensation was to have med ins on a certain date, and the employer failed to provide it, then she can claim they broke the contract. The terms of her employment would include the medical insurance coverage promised. The fact that all other employees were provided insurance after three months helps prove her claim of the terms of the contract. More often than not employees do not have written contracts covering all aspects of their employement. So they then rely on the various oral promises made as well as what other employees have received. Does this help?

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Mark B. Replogle

 

[K]

Yes, thank you very, very much!