Health insurance help needed (split)

[Fobosdaemios 24]

Hey guys, my wife's company doesn't let her add my name to the health insurance mid-enrollment. She has to wait until next period to add my name and also the insurance wouldn't be in affect until January next year for me... Does anybody know any cheaper alternative ways to get health insurance for 4 months?

Thanks!

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

11 minutes ago, Fobosdaemios said:

Hey guys, my wife's company doesn't let her add my name to the health insurance mid-enrollment. She has to wait until next period to add my name and also the insurance wouldn't be in affect until January next year for me... Does anybody know any cheaper alternative ways to get health insurance for 4 months?

Thanks!

That's weird. Usually a move of a spouse to the country is considered a "Qualifying Life Event" (just as a marriage would be), and mid-enrollment is allowed in such a case. Are you sure this was made clear to the insurance company/ HR, that this is similar to a marriage or birth of a child...

 

Sorry, I don't really have info about ways to get health insurance...

 

For reference:

 

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by From_CAN_2_US

[Fobosdaemios 24]

16 minutes ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

That's weird. Usually a move of a spouse to the country is considered a "Qualifying Life Event" (just as a marriage would be), and mid-enrollment is allowed in such a case. Are you sure this was made clear to the insurance company/ HR, that this is similar to a marriage or birth of a child...

 

Sorry, I don't really have info about ways to get health insurance...

 

That is what i thought too...My wife even emailed the HR whos in charge of benefits and the HR. She said no...I'm not sure if it's a law or it's based on the company.

Edited August 16, 2021 by Fobosdaemios

[mam521 2,063]

2 minutes ago, Fobosdaemios said:

That is what i thought too...My wife even emailed the HR whos in charge of benefits and the HR. She said no...I'm not sure if it's a law or it's based on the company.

Does her company have an actual benefits administrator instead of "just" an HR person? 

 

If there isn't an actual benefits administrator, I'd contact the actual insurance company that provides her insurance.  Many HR people just don't know.  Just like they often don't realize that your activated visa in your passport is work authorization, even without a physical green card and SSN.  

 

If she has access online, she can probably look there under adding beneficiaries or something of that nature.  We were able to do it ourselves online, skipping HR all together.  

[Ontarkie 14,228]

~~Health insurance post split of the DQ thread as the question is better suited on it's own. Also moved to Moving Here and New Life in America- as similar threads are discussed here.~~

[Fobosdaemios 24]

Thank you, ill take a look at that with her when she is home.

[Fobosdaemios 24]

57 minutes ago, mam521 said:

Does her company have an actual benefits administrator instead of "just" an HR person? 

 

If there isn't an actual benefits administrator, I'd contact the actual insurance company that provides her insurance.  Many HR people just don't know.  Just like they often don't realize that your activated visa in your passport is work authorization, even without a physical green card and SSN.  

 

If she has access online, she can probably look there under adding beneficiaries or something of that nature.  We were able to do it ourselves online, skipping HR all together.  

My wife did actually emailed the director of the benefits in HR and she did say no. 

We logged on the employee account and we saw the life event section but there was no options for us to add.

That's really odd.

[Bajinga 136]

getting married is considered a qualifying life event for health insurance by law, its documented here for California but i am pretty sure most states consider it the same. you should pull the relevant section of the law for the state you are in and send it to the HR. you will only have till 30 days after the marriage to make any changes to the health insurance

[Ontarkie 14,228]

1 hour ago, Fobosdaemios said:

My wife did actually emailed the director of the benefits in HR and she did say no. 

We logged on the employee account and we saw the life event section but there was no options for us to add.

That's really odd.

Does it show loss of health insurance as a qualifying event? 

Edited August 16, 2021 by Ontarkie

[Fobosdaemios 24]

6 minutes ago, Bajinga said:

getting married is considered a qualifying life event for health insurance by law, its documented here for California but i am pretty sure most states consider it the same. you should pull the relevant section of the law for the state you are in and send it to the HR. you will only have till 30 days after the marriage to make any changes to the health insurance

Yup, the Director emailed back after we linked her the website. However, she said I can only be enrolled with SSN. 

[Bajinga 136]

3 minutes ago, Fobosdaemios said:

Yup, the Director emailed back after we linked her the website. However, she said I can only be enrolled with SSN. 

we have seen the HR's do that because they just do not know and they sometimes do not bother to find out from someone who knows from the health insurance admin side. they are absolutely required by law to let anyone add their spouse to the health insurance with or without an SSN. most health insurance companies do this by using a placeholder till the SSN is available for the spouse.

[Fobosdaemios 24]

20 minutes ago, Bajinga said:

we have seen the HR's do that because they just do not know and they sometimes do not bother to find out from someone who knows from the health insurance admin side. they are absolutely required by law to let anyone add their spouse to the health insurance with or without an SSN. most health insurance companies do this by using a placeholder till the SSN is available for the spouse.

The director replied the emailed with this message. "Your spouse needs to have a social security number in order to enroll. Immigration status is a Qualifying Event, however, the dependent needs to be added within 30days with the SSN."

Do you know where can I show her the prove so that by law she has do it even without SSN?

[Letspaintcookies 2,310]

I'm sure somebody will come up with something better but for starters here is what the IRS has to say about this ( and they're the only reason why insurances want your SSN ). Question 5 answers what to do when you don't have an SSN.

 

https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/questions-and-answers-about-reporting-social-security-numbers-to-your-health-insurance-company

 

So if they're OK with a placeholder then there's no reason why the insurance insist on it.

[Hagrid 22]

6 hours ago, Fobosdaemios said:

The director replied the emailed with this message. "Your spouse needs to have a social security number in order to enroll. Immigration status is a Qualifying Event, however, the dependent needs to be added within 30days with the SSN."

Do you know where can I show her the prove so that by law she has do it even without SSN?

You can enroll in health insurance without a SSN. 

 

I enrolled my parent with no SSN (their own plan). Also my newborn 🌞

 

[mam521 2,063]

15 hours ago, Fobosdaemios said:

The director replied the emailed with this message. "Your spouse needs to have a social security number in order to enroll. Immigration status is a Qualifying Event, however, the dependent needs to be added within 30days with the SSN."

Do you know where can I show her the prove so that by law she has do it even without SSN?

Immigration, loss of insurance (because you lose Canadian provincial insurance) and marriage are all valid reasons to be added.  If you guys just call the insurance company direct, they can likely add you easily.  Like I said, often HR isn't familiar. 

 

Who's her insurance provider?