I’d really prefer to believe that this has a hard-and-fast answer, but I’m going to err on the side of caution.
My daughter will be aging out of her eligibility for coverage by my health insurance in May. For the purposes of my having the freedom to make changes to my plan outside of Open Season, does this count as a qualifying life event?
I mean, I’ve not changed my plan since I was hired in 2008, but I’ve got a few changes in other areas of my life coming up, and I wouldn’t mind an extra four months to decide if I want to bother thinking about it.
I’m not sure, but I don’t believe so. It should be a qualifying life event for you, not your dependent. Hopefully someone with more specialized knowledge will chime in. In the meantime, you should be able to call any health insurance broker approved by your state and listed on the state healthplan finder (or any health insurance broker, period) and get an answer.
I suspect there is a hard-and-fast answer, but isn’t the only one who can provide that is your employer’s benefits office or whoever else provides your health insurance?
I’m sure there’s a hard-and-fast answer specific to your employer - but I’m certain there isn’t one across the board. My employer, for example, doesn’t have an open-enrollment period exactly. If I choose to have my premium payment deducted on pre-tax basis, I can only change my coverage due to qualifying events or during the option change period - but if I’m just plain not enrolled , I can enroll at anytime subject to a waiting period.
Turning 26, and “aging off” of your parents’ health insurance coverage, absolutely is a qualifying life event (QLE) for the daughter, and will qualify her for a Special Enrollment Period for buying an “individual” (Obamacare) policy, if she wants to.
However, I do not believe that it would be a QLE for the parents, at least not for buying individual coverage. Looking at this page on Healthcare.gov about QLEs, it doesn’t mention being the parent of a child who is leaving your insurance coverage.
However, it sounds like the OP has group coverage from their employer, and that may follow different rules. This is likely a case where the OP needs to ask his HR/benefits department.