Health insurance

[effieb 1]

Just want to add my 2 cents..I am have been in health insurance for about 12years now and i think a point is being missen here.

First of all there was a point made earlier on by a VJ member stating Insurance Policy depends solely on the contract between the Insurance Company and the employer based on what they purchased for the Group Plan.

My VJ family, i love you all! please don't make it sound like the Gentleman's insurance is the wrong insurance. Not at all is what the Group Policy is, which is different from one employer to the other. Nothing at all to do with USCIS or what Visa one entered into the US with.

You can even have 3 people working for same company and if the company has different policies depending on your payroll deduction for your premuims each person will have a different policy as far as benefits but then if everyone in the company has to qualify by like the VJ member said by a qualifying event then that is what it is due to the employers contract.

Please don't make the lady feel bad.

Good Luck my Sister.

Peace to my VJ family members.

[inloveVEN 46]

Hi

citizenship has nothing to do with health insurance. Normally those are negotiated for a company for their employees and families. but to do any modification is needed to have an event, like a marriage, a child born, a decease. etc.

It means, that you probably needed to be added intermediate after your wedding but you wasn´t. So you need to wait the time they agreed before to let you be added.

But nobody has to wait for a citizenship or something similar, i really suggest you, read carefully what they said to you

[JustUs 3]

http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10096.html

[Kevin-n-Merlaine 14]

You're right, every insurance company is different and the contract they have with the employees/employer dictates their "rules" for adding someone to the policy. IMO it's asinine for them to reject or deny someone because of a "window", etc. You have a SSN, your husband works for the company, you're the spouse, he will be PAYING them for your coverage. How freakin difficult do they really need to make it?! I pay, you provide...simple. I'd say shop for different insurance M. Unless he's getting some incredible deal through work (which he's probably not, none of us do) you'll still pay quite a bit for it so you might be better off just finding another company. As one poster here said, he found a temporary policy, of sorts, until he could add his wife. No offence effieb, but this is one of the reasons people in this country are soooo pissedoff about health care - stupid expensive, IF you can even get it!! The job I'm at now offers UHC and for Merlaine and I it will run $286 a WEEK for 80/20, $750 per person deduct. That's insane plain and simple. Ok, my rant is done..in this thread anyway..sorry M, and I'd still call that comissioners number I gave you!

[Zai & Gary 6]

My company also has the 30 day limit for adding someone to the insurance after a qualifying event. I was married last November and added my wife to my insurance after the open enrollment date had passed. My next open enrollment isn't until October. My wife is still living in the Philippines but that was not a problem even though she does not have a SSN and does not live here yet because the policy allows me to add her just because she is my spouse. They allowed me to add her and told me to let them know her SSN after she gets here but still she is covered. And there are actually a few Doctors in the Philippines who do accept my insurance under the global coverage plan. It may be November before my wife gets here and since she has not needed any medical attention so far the money paid in is lost. However it is the peace of mind to me knowing that she has coverage that makes it worth while to go ahead and pay the premiums even though she is not using the insurance at this time. For my step-son it was a different policy. Currently he is not covered and they will not allow me to add him because he is not living with me. They said if he was my biological son I could add him or if I had already adopted him then I could add him immediately however step children must be living with you to be added. It does not make sense but that is the policy.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Carefully review the qualifying events to make changes mid year. You may find one you can use to add her. My company includes changes in spouses employment as a clause. Did your wife quit a job when she moved here ? Did she lose coverage over there somehow ? Try to line up something that happened with one of the qualifying events.

[Vivi6 12]

Their problem is that they missed the 30 day window based on the Marriage so now they have to wait for the Open Enrollment.

Got it. Yeah, I didn't see they had been married for a while. Excellent answer

[deepdawg 3]

Just wanted to put my situation here if it helps someone:

We got married Dec 10th 2009. I inquired with our benefits dept and they said that you can add your wife when she moves to the US, since relocation is a "qualifying event". I'm thinking that companies have differing "qualifying events" based on their contracts with the health insurance companies. I'm lucky that was considered b/c I was outside the 30 day window when I inquired!

It is very surprising that relocation is NOT considered a "qualifying event" by ALL insurance companies. WHAT's the point if the dependent is not even in the US???

[ValerieA 350]

Rian? If you can get a letter from where you were covered under insurance in PI, they should accept that as proof of loss of coverage. That is what I was told would be needed to add my husband outside of open enrollment.

[griffin 7]

correct me if im wrong....

you can only do this during the open enrollment time....your husband can add you regardless of you are greencard holder or us citizen as long as you have to wait for the open enrolment time...this is the time when he is about to renew his health insurance for the next year.

[David Allen 3]

I went through this when my wife came to the US last December. We had received her SS card and I thought I could then add her to my insurance plan. After looking over the form they had given me - it became clear that I would not be able to add my fiancee to my plan until after we were married. The form specifically asked for a marriage or Civil union date - which we obviously did not have. I confirmed this with my HR dept. Once we were married I turned in the forms and showed my HR person our marriage certificate and then everything was cool She was added to our plan effective the date of our marriage. This isn't out of anyone's greed - there needs to be a legal status behind this change.

I hope this helps answer your question.

-David

[Bernie C 24]

Unfortunaltey when it comes to health insurance, the rules are not the same for every company, policy etc...

It's a difficult topic to advise on since we do not know the specific of your husbands insurance plan and the contract his company has with the provider.

I was able to add my wife before we were married. Our provider has an opt for domestic partners. We have an ongoing open enrollment, the only stipulation is that if you add someone during a month the policy does not become active till the first of the following month. Our provider is Blue Cross Blue Shield (which our company just switched to from Health Assurance).

We did get married a few weeks after her enrollment and were actually married the day before the policy went into affect.

I know if some companies which only allow additions during certain periods of the year, unless of special circumstance such as a new born. It can get complicated. It does not make sense to me that if a couple got married that the spouse could not be added but it is what it is.

One other thing, don't necessarily give up, keep pushing and trying to get in touch with other reps from the provider. Some just dont know their jobs very well and how their own system works and what the actual rules and regulations are within their own company!

I hope you can find an answer.

We were very lucky, about two weeks after my wife was added to my policy, she passed out and I had to call an ambulance. She had tons of tests done and in the end she is ok. She was dehydrated and through a combination of things this led to her passing out. I just got the bill and it would have been about $2,000 for the few hours we were in the ER. Luckily I only have to pay a $100 deductable.

If you cannot get onto the hubbies plan for an extended period maybe you can get a temporary policy that covers emergencies. I doubt they are cheap but then again your health is tops on the list and you never know when "things happen".

Best Wishes and Good Luck.

[Married2009 32]

correct me if im wrong....

you can only do this during the open enrollment time....your husband can add you regardless of you are greencard holder or us citizen as long as you have to wait for the open enrolment time...this is the time when he is about to renew his health insurance for the next year.

Most companyies have what they call 'life changing events' - birth of a child, getting married, losing coverage you had wthru spouse's workplace, etc. You can generally add someone who qualifies, or make changes to your policy only during open enrollemnt, unless there is a life changing event.

[AdamW 2]

Their problem is that they missed the 30 day window based on the Marriage so now they have to wait for the Open Enrollment.

You are so correct. This "window" can not be missed. I did not have any problem adding my wife immediately after we were married. No SSN or GC was needed. Filled out the correct forms and she was on my benefits even though she was and still not in the USA. Open enrollment will be your next chance at adding.

[thongd4me 69]

is there anyone had this problem before?

okay here is the story

Im already in US and my husband wanted to put me in his insurance. Ive got my social security number last week. So my husband went to his HR to ask to put my name in his insurance. They said that He should put my name 30 days after married but my hubby said he cant bec im not here yet.... which is right.. so they said AGAIN we have to wait till december to open enrollment and ofcourse my hubby said NO he cant..its a long waste to wait.. there is so many things can be happen within 6 months....so then they asked my hubby if im already a US citizen, and he said not yet just a temporary citizen but after 2 yrs YES i will be... and then they asked for documents saying that im legally resident here.. So i gave my visa and my SSN... but still they are not happy with that.. so my hubby went to Union and the Union said we have to wait after 2 yrs so that im already a US citizen! what the !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im really pissed! they got my SSN so now what????????????????????? I talked to people how they put their spouse in their insurance and they said just get a form and give a SSN..which we did but his company is sooo greedy and stupid!

can somebody help me pls!

That sounds absurd, especially the requirement for citizenship. Where I work it doesn't matter what

nationality the spouse is or even if the Spouse is not here, it's still a spouse. When I signed her

up for medical insurance it was within a few days of her arrival and yes we were married.

Her status as my spouse was effective retroactively as of the date of our marriage.

They wanted to see her passport and the marriage certificate with the name change, that's all.

I would consider contacting a congressman or senator or someone in the Department of Labor.

I don't think such things are totally at the discretion of the employer, especially if the employer

has X+ number of employees (I'm assuming the company is larger than a few hundred; if not,

you may be out of luck).

Sounds like a "shell game" to me; I think you better find someone

higher on the union totem pole.

(Bernie C) One other thing, don't necessarily give up, keep pushing and trying to get in touch with other reps from the provider. Some just dont know their jobs very well and how their own system works and what the actual rules and regulations are within their own company!

Health care is really in the spotlight nowadays - I'd raise bloody hell

on this one, enrollment program or no enrollment program!

Edited June 10, 2010 by thongd4me