Joined: 04 Oct 2004 Posts: 8 Location: Los Angeles
Health Insurance Issues - Help! Posted: 10-06-04 15:36pm
I need advise please...I'll try to keep
this short.
Feb '03: began new employment.
Jun '03: medical benefits kicked in. I
enrolled myself and my husband, who was my
fiance at the time. My supervisor
filled out the paperwork for me and marked
the spouse box.
July '03: my husband had back surgery and
the insurance company approved it at the
time.
Aug '03: the human resources rep called to
tell me it came to her attention that we
weren't married and that the company did
not cover domestic partners(we had been
living together for 3 years). She asked
for a marriage cert. And of course, I
didn't have one. She told me she was
cancelling my husband's policy, effective
immediately. And that's the last I
heard from her.
Oct '03: I terminated my employment
because I got another job.
Feb '04: we got married!
Sept. '04: I recieved a hospital bill
for the surgery...To be paid in full
within a couple weeks. I called the
insurance company and they told me that my
husband's policy was cancelled on 10/23/03
retroactively to the first day it began.
Furthermore, I was never notified of this
and was never paid back for the premiums
they took out of my paycheck.
I have called the hospital billing dept
and explained that we have a pending
insurance claim. They put a 30-day hold
on it.
My question for you is: do you think I
have a good enough case to contact a
lawyer?
Any advise or suggestions would be greatly
appreciated.
Thanks!
|
somarco
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 02 Jun 2004 Posts: 26 Location: Atlanta
Posted: 10-21-04 05:13am
Sorry for the delay . . . This forum
gets so little traffic I rarely check
in.
You have no case.
Very few group plans (and no individual
plans that I am aware of) covered domestic
partners. Your coverage was cancelled for
legitimate reasons. The hospital has
every right to demand payment since your
health insurance was revoked
retroactively.
You do have a right to payroll deductions
for health insurance. You may not need a
lawyer for that as it is a wage & hour
issue between you, your employer and the
dol in your state.
If you can come up with funds to pay
quickly, the hospital might be willing to
discount the charges. If not work out a
payment plan or prepare to deal with
collections and possibly a lawsuit
(against you for non-payment of a debt).
You did not mention the surgeons bill.
Expect similar action to follow with the
surgeon and the anesthesiologist.
