Simple question. In the US, if I want to switch my daughter from SO’s insurance to mine, and our open enrollment periods don’t match by several months, should I:
[ol]
[li]Add her during my OE, allowing SO to freely drop her as she has insurance[/li][li]Have SO drop her during her OE, then I can add child as a qualifying event. Note that this is a voluntary action, not due to loss of insurance. Would also have to figure out how to do this and avoid a lapse.[/li][li](Not ideal) Add her now, and have double insurance for several months[/li][li]Something else, or caveats I didn’t think of[/li][/ol]
The “correct way” will depend on your company’s policies, your SO’s, and how quickly the change needs to be made.
How important is it that your daughter get on your insurance quickly? If yours is much better, and she has a need to use it soon, I would say paying double premiums for a few months would be the better choice. If not, I would just go for option 1.
You should check with your company’s policies for who qualifies as a “dependent” for insurance purposes. In many cases, in order to be qualified you must claim her as your dependent on your tax return.
The whole “HR” can’t be trusted is bullshit, and they usually are the source of correct information on company policies, etc.
It’s impossible to know the right answer without talking to your HR. At my employer, for example, coverage can be dropped anytime, but you have to wait until open season to add.
With the Affordable Care Act, a child can be kept on the parent’s insurance up until their 26th birthday, regardless of whether the child is still a dependent.
That said: definitely check with HR on adding the child mid-year - I’m pretty sure losing other coverage - whatever causes it - qualifies as a life event but make sure BEFOREHAND. I don’t think gaining insurance qualifies as a life event - in other words, adding daughter to your coverage wouldn’t allow the other parent to drop coverage right away.
Seems that either 1 or 2 would work, whichever OE comes up first. In my experince with OE it usually happens a month or two before the new policy date actually goes into effect(may vary from job to job) so if your SO was to drop her you could potentially get a letter from the SO’s insurance stating that as of this future date, daughter will no longer be insured. You can then use that document to satisfy the qualifying event when adding her to your insurance.
As others have said, would be best to talk to HR as weill as the individual insurance companies and tell them what you are trying to do and get direction from them.
probably won’t work. Most employer plans don’t allow you to drop anyone without a qualifying event, particularly if your contribution towards the premiums are taken from your pay pre-tax.
Voluntary termination is not a qualifying event.
May be your only option to avoid a lapse in coverage.