Health Insurance

[winklersinatl]

What is the name of your state?
GEORGIA

first simple question is - can a company create different waiting periods for eligibility for health insurance for full time employees?. example: 90 days for managers and people who work in distribution centers, while workers in retail stores need to wait 180 days?

second - If from date of hire, a part-time employee is meeting all requirements of a full time employee as described by company handbooks, specifically # of hours a week worked, and is brought on as a full-time employee 90 days later. Where should the employee eligibility period of 180 days begin from? As a small obstacle to the answer, the company website, which is updated daily, says "Employees may elect to participate in the company's Group Medical Plan after 90 days of full-time active employment" There is no mention of 180 days.

Thirdly - if the new employee inquired about health coverage and was given incorrect information by the hiring manager, who should be responsible for any medical bills incurred during that period, the employee or the companies health insurance company?
I asked if there was an bridge insurance plan offered to accommodate new employees and was told, "there is no such thing." However, according to the company website as of 4/9/05 and benefit handbook dated 7/1/05- 6/30/06, "To accommodate new employees during their first 90 days of employment, an affordable bridge insurance plan is offered from the employee's start date to the date of eligibility for group medical insurance."
just a reminder, once again no mention of 180 days. And after speaking with the benefits people on 4/8/05, who are not employees of my company, informed me that "starbridge" insurance should have been offered to me when I was hired, even as a part-time employee.

The bottom line is that because of manager errors and incorrect information with regards to my health insurance, I have incurred almost $8000.00 in medical bills awaiting for my eligibility date to arrive. And would like to know if there is any type of recourse I could take to get these bills paid by my employer?

ANY ANSWERS AND ADIVCE WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!!

 

[Beth3]

first simple question is - can a company create different waiting periods for eligibility for health insurance for full time employees?. example: 90 days for managers and people who work in distribution centers, while workers in retail stores need to wait 180 days? Yes. It is permissible to treat different "classes" of employees differently, as long as the employer is consistent with their practices within each "class."

second - If from date of hire, a part-time employee is meeting all requirements of a full time employee as described by company handbooks, specifically # of hours a week worked, and is brought on as a full-time employee 90 days later. Where should the employee eligibility period of 180 days begin from? That depends entirely on what the insurance contract/Plan Document states. It's quite possible that the waiting period only begins at such time as the employee is officially designated a full-time employee by the Company.

As a small obstacle to the answer, the company website, which is updated daily, says "Employees may elect to participate in the company's Group Medical Plan after 90 days of full-time active employment" There is no mention of 180 days. Then I'd ask someone in Human Resources or the Benefits Department for clarification.


Thirdly - if the new employee inquired about health coverage and was given incorrect information by the hiring manager, who should be responsible for any medical bills incurred during that period, the employee or the companies health insurance company? Probably the employee will be however there may be an administrative solution the company can enact if you were eligible for participation in the health plan at an earlier date and due to no fault of your own, you did not have coverage. (A simple administrative solution would be to enroll you and back-date the coverage.)


I asked if there was an bridge insurance plan offered to accommodate new employees and was told, "there is no such thing." However, according to the company website as of 4/9/05 and benefit handbook dated 7/1/05- 6/30/06, "To accommodate new employees during their first 90 days of employment, an affordable bridge insurance plan is offered from the employee's start date to the date of eligibility for group medical insurance."
just a reminder, once again no mention of 180 days. And after speaking with the benefits people on 4/8/05, who are not employees of my company, informed me that "starbridge" insurance should have been offered to me when I was hired, even as a part-time employee. So have you asked the employer how they're going to rectify this or if it's possible to do so?


The bottom line is that because of manager errors and incorrect information with regards to my health insurance, I have incurred almost $8000.00 in medical bills awaiting for my eligibility date to arrive. And would like to know if there is any type of recourse I could take to get these bills paid by my employer? It really depends on what the relevant Plan Documents state regarding who is eligible and when you should have been offered coverage in either or both plans and nobody here could possibly know that.

The place to start it to contact the company's benefits department and see what they say and what kind of solutions are possible.