Basically this company we work for DOES NOT pay 50% of our premiums.
We opted into the BCBS plan at work and we all pay 100% of the premiums out of our paychecks. Each employee of course has a different plan based on their ability to afford and personal needs.
We recently fond out that we had lost coverage since Feb 28th. Today is Abril 9th... Anyway we all sterted getting notices in the mail yesterday, April 8th that on March 1st we had NO coverage. We really found this out when three of us were denied access to dr's and prescriptions on Monday and Teusday April 5th and 6th.
I did fire up a storm and was promised that it would be in full forse as of Thursday the 8th (yesterday) and it is back in force.
However, I think that we as employees are kept in the dark, paid each week out of our payroll and they serriously have major financial issues that prevented them from paying BCBS.
What I would like to know, can we legally get refunded for the time we were in the dark w/o coverage?
I mean if you do not pay takes, there are fines. If you receive a speeding summons and do not show or pay, you have fines and fees added to a suspension of course... Well here each and every employee who paid did not have coverage and are we eligable for any kind of compensation?
Thanks
Answer by lucy
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/statutes/summary.htm
So if I get this right, your paychecks are being deducted for insurance that your employer failed to pay and lost coverage. You are lucky that no one had gotten a serious illness or had surgery during that time and found out after the fact when you would have received enormous bills.
Contact the DOL of the link I provided and ask them. Most likely you should be owed refunds of payments made and not used for insurance. I have no clue about fines etc, but most likely due to the financial problems with this employer, could takes months/years to get that money back. If they are not paying for insurance, what about taxes or unemployment?
I suggest you start looking for another job asap, since if this company has serious financial problems, you may find a pink slip when they can no longer pay your wages.
good luck
Answer by mbrcatz
Yes, you are. BUT, you get your refund, from your EMPLOYER, who took your to pay the insurance, and did something else with it instead.
You'd file the complaint with your state labor board.
And you'd probably best start out looking for another job, because once an employer starts misdirecting insurance premiums, they're not going to be making payroll much longer.
Answer by Flower
I think you should sue your employer in Small Claims court for the premiums you paid in and were not insured.
So there is currently no health insurance and you are still working there?
Answer by StephenWeinstein
If this was some sort of administrative snafu and your coverage is reinstated retroactively, so that the insurance pays for whatever treatment, etc., you received during March 1-April 7, then you have not lost any coverage and are not entitled to any refund.
If this was done deliberately, then yes, there are big fines. Most states prohibited withholding anything from paychecks, except things required by law, such as taxes, child support, etc., unless it actually is spent for the employee's benefit. In all states, the federal ERISA prohibits money withheld for certain employee benefits, including health insurance and retirement, from being diverted for any other purpose.
If the reinstatement is not retroactive, and your treatment, etc., during March will never be paid by the insurance company, then you should ask for refunds of what you paid for coverage during that time period.
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