Is there any law or regulation in California that governs how long an employer has to wait after receiving and accepting an employee's resignation before the employer cancels that employee's health insurance coverage and/or before they allow a "small group" health policy to be cancelled due to the fact that there was only a single employee in that group? I submitted my resignation on 3/28/12 offering 2 weeks notice which the employer turned down and I cleaned out my desk on 3/30/12. The renewal date of the small group health insurance was 4/1/12 and they let the policy cancel then. Due a "miscommunication between the employer and the broker, the actual cancellation date was 5/1/12." I am having nothing but trouble now trying to get new coverage in spite of HIPPA and in spite of Cal COBRA and COBRA.
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: California Already Tried: I am awaiting a letter from the insurance carrier that is supposed to explain the exact reason why I've been denied coverage. That has not yet materialized and one time, the insurance agent for my spouse's employer had been told my insurance had been cancelled due to non-payment of premium / dues and not because I terminated my employment. I have the documentation necessary to prove I have had continuous coverage since 2000 and I'm unable to get my prescriptions filled due to the cost.
Hello and welcome to JustAnswer.I'm sorry to hear about your situation and hope I can help.No, unfortunately, there is no California law or regulation that prevents an employer from immiediately canceling an employee's health insurance at the time of termination.Since the ex-employee is no longer an employee, the employer is free to cancel the employee's health insurance immediately at the time of termination, and most employers will not renew an employee's health insurance after the date of termination.I wish I had better news to give you, but I hope you appreciate a direct and honest answer to your question.Please let me know if you have any follow-up questions.
I'm sorry to see you gave me a less than favorable answer.Is there any additional information I can provide to improve your rating?
What about the effect that there decision to cancel the policy and the group are having on my ability to get new coverage? As stated, at one point an agent working on my behalf would not give me an individual policy because he was told that the coverage was cancelled due to non payment of premium which I never paid, the employer ALWAYS, for 12.5 years paid the premium. And because I'm "under the gun" with the 63 days that I have to get coverage without a pre-existing condition issue is rapidly approaching but because of what that insurance agent was told, I had to start the process all over again and the end of my 63 days is rapidly approaching. In addition to that, I still have not gotten a letter that I was told to expect from Anthem Blue Cross.
You would have a cause of action against your employer for defamation for making false and damaging statements about you that have caused you to not be able to get coverage for your pre-existing condition.Also, under COBRA, you do have a right to continue your existing coverage if you pay the policy premiums, and the coverage would be retroactive to the time of your termination, so any 'out of pocket' costs that you have to make for prescriptions would be reimbursed by your insurance carrier once your COBRA coverage goes into effect and is made retroactive to your date of termination.
You still gave me another negative rating, is there anything additional I could provide to improve the rating?
Relist: Other.I'm not sure this person is as skilled at the type of issue I have as someone else might be.
I guess you did the best that you could. Sorry for giving you a poor rating before.
Different contributor here. Pleae permit me to assist. First, if the employer cancels its health care plan, then there is no COBRA coverage available, unless the employer has more than one plan available, in which case you can elect the other plan. Based on your stated facts, you could be sunk with regard to COBRA, except that you do have the right to obtain a HIPAA conversion plan within 63 days of the qualifying event (termination of employment). The conversion plan will be expensive -- they always are. The alternatives, if you have a preexisting condition and you cannot qualify for an individual health care plan, are the California MRMIP, or federal PCIP. Both plans are also expensive, but not as expensive as a HIPAA conversion plan, and the PCIP requires that you remain unisured for six months, before you can qualify for benefits. MRMIP can be acquired immediately.Those are your options. Nothing else exists, until Jan 1, 2014, assuming that the federal PPACA ("Obamacare") is not repealed.Note: No matter how deceitful it may be, the employer is not prohibited from dropping health care insurance for all employees, even if the primary goal is to deprive you fo insurance -- as long as every other employee is similarly deprived of health care benefits.Hope this helps. NOTICE: My goal here is to entertain while educating the public about the law. I hope my answer is useful and informative to you. During our conversation, the website may ask you to rate my answer. If you rate my answer lower than the middle rating, then the website retains your entire payment, and I receive nothing. It is entirely your choice as to how you rate my answer. However, because your payment to me is in the nature of a donation/gift, rather than as compensation for any services rendered, you are entitled to know how your rating affects the final distribution of your donation. If you need to contact me again, please put my user id at the beginning of your question ("To Socrateaser"), and the system will send me an alert. Please Click the following link for IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION. Thanks and best wishes!
Experience: Retired (mostly)
You should be paid now I hope.