not offered insurance

[jehardt]

What is the name of your state?undefinedWhat is the name of your state? Illinois
Can my employer force me (a married women) to be covered on my husband's insurance? My husband and I work for different employers. When I asked about the insurance plan to compare to my husband's plan I was told to just sign the form declining insurance and was never given any information including rates etc.

 

[Beth3]

Huh? So are you saying your employer is requiring you to decline participation in their group health plan because your husband works somewhere else and they want you to be covered as a dependent on your husband's employer's plan?

 

[purple2]

OP, it sounds to me like your employer is not forcing you to be covered on your husband's insurance plan. How would they even go about forcing such a thing?

I think what you may be trying to say is your employer declined to provide you with information about health insurance benefits available to you as an employee. Is that right?

 

[ablessin]

they can't force your spouse who works at another company to cover you.
I hope that you didn't sign anything from your employer. Maybe they are assuming that your husband covers you and that you don't need coverage through them.

I'd get down to your HR dept and tell them you want coverage through them and ask for the enrollment forms.

good luck.

ps - - you might want to rate compare, though and see if their coverage is better than your husbands and what the cost is to have the two single plans as opposed to his two person coverage (if his employer has a 2 person policy that is - my empolyer has this - for couples with no kids or single parents with one child - over that jumps to the family plan?

 

[jehardt]

They didn't give us any forms except the form to decline. I am assuming that I was entitled to be offered insurance as stated in their benefit summary, but, since I was married I should be on my husband's insurance. I asked about the insurance and the VP of Operations told me "just sign here-you can be covered on your husband's insurance" as he was pointing to the line. I am a salary employee and the company did the same thing to another hourly employee that is a married woman.
I was under the impression that benefits had to offered on a consistent basis whether you were married or not if you met the guidelines in their handbook.

 

[cbg]

You are correct. If you meet the definition of a covered employee, they HAVE to offer you the opportunity to be covered regardless of whether you have access to other insurance.

I think your employers are a bit confused. They CAN have a rule that they will not cover a dependent, if the dependent has access to other coverage. So they can tell you that they will not cover your husband, since he has coverage available to him elsewhere. This is not only legal, it is becoming increasingly common.

But YOU are their employee, not a dependent of an employee. So failure to allow you the opportunity to join their plan would be a violation of ERISA, as long as you meet the eligibility qualifications.

Please do not ask me for a link or something you can print out to show them. ERISA is an enormously long and complicated law, and it would be nearly impossible to provide that.

But I assure you that if you called the DOL and reported to them that you were being declined the opportunity to join your employer's plan because they wanted you to be covered on your husband's plan instead, the DOL would support you and not your employer.

What I would do would be to go to your HR person, and, RESPECTFULLY, inform them that under ERISA you have the right to be offered the insurance benefit regardless of whether you have access through your husband or not, and you would like the information about the plan and the enrollment forms now, please.