pregnant wife/company wants to drop her

[ronrontx]

texas. wife is emt with local private ambulance co. she told boss today she is pregnant with our next child. outstanding! she was advised that when she is reduced to light-duty that she may not be working enough hours to qualify for health insurance provided through (blue-cross/blue shield). the insurance is provided in the following manner: my wife pays premium from her first paycheck each month and company reimburses her 75% of that paid our amount at next pay check. dropping a pregnant person months before birth, based on hours worked, seems like a scam or loophole and in bad faith at the least. i would like to research this. if necessary i can add her to my policy with my employer but at almost 3x the premium for comparable coverage. please give advice and maybe some resources for me to start researching or reference. myself-i am a juvenile probation officer and appreciate the advice and candor of you all. thanks.

 

[cbg]

Whether this is legal or not depends upon whether or not they would do the same thing to someone else who dropped to light duty for a medical, but non-maternity reason.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act states that a woman who is pregnant must be treated exactly the same as someone who is not pregnant. She cannot be discriminated against, but she gets no special privileges.

So if someone who dropped to light duty because of, say, fibromyalgia, and did not work enough hours for coverage, were to be dropped from the coverage, then your wife can also be dropped from the coverage. But if the hypothetical person with fibromyalgia were to be allowed to maintain coverage, then your wife must be also.