As you know, dependents through the age of 26 can now be carried on a parent’s insurance coverage. This is part of healthcare reform, officially called Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). This act, signed into law in 2010, has required employers to make this and many other changes to their medical insurance plans over the last several years.
Although your dependents can still be covered by NMC insurance, there are a few things you might think about if your children do have other coverage…
- You may be paying premiums for these children unnecessarily if they have other coverage, and they may be paying premiums at their employers as well.
- You have to coordinate benefits for them between NMC’s coverage and their other coverage, which can be challenging.
- Employers are now required to pay new fees based on the number of members they cover for insurance, not just on the number of employees covered. For the NMC plans, this means fees paid to the government for over 700 covered members.
If you have a dependent that you would like to remove from your insurance, you can do so by emailing Carol Kasper with the date that the child acquired other coverage and the reason. If this “qualifying event” did not take place since the plan year starting 1/1/13, you would not be able to terminate their coverage until open enrollment next year.
If you have any questions about this or your other benefits, feel free to contact Human Resources at 995-1362 or 995-1025.