Any health insurance knowledgable people in the crowd?

[Star*]

Making this short - I'm angry.

I got my final pay from employer.

I was fired on a Wednesday. Our insurance is self-pay, bi-weekly deduction for near $45.00/2 weeks.

I was told my insurance would cancel the day I was fired. I called the insurance co., and indeed it did. I asked could I fill my prescriptions due and they said if I could get them done THAT day. Done.

So on my final pay? They deducted - An entire week for insurance I never got, and Thursday, Friday & Saturday (Insurance I never got)

I told them they owe me for those days or at least OWED me for insurance through the days I was fired.

Before I go off 1/2 cocked in an argument I want to be educated about my knowledge.

No where that I can see in my handbook does it state that if youi're canned - they do not pro=rate your insurance.

How do I get this money _WHAT is my legal argument in writing - WHOM would I contact? Insurance commission?

Thanks

I mean HONESTLY - they took - $50.00 - for insurance services I never received. WOW - talk about whipping a gal when she's down.

 

[Star*]

OH and sorry to post such a downer of a post -but I wouldn't have except I can really use the advice. I'll find a funny something later and post it for uplifting purposes - Just too angry with them now - Grrrrrr.

They also "forgot" to pay me for the hour I came in and clocked in and worked the morning I got canned - I DON'T THINK SO - check your cameras - you do for EVERYTHING ELSE......UGH. lol.

 

[DaisyFace]

Star--

Start with the SC Board of Labor. They can help you get your unpaid hours and get back deductions for things that shouldn't have been deducted.

PLUS -they will go into the business and look through all their books with a fine-tooth comb ...checking for further irregularities. if they find any, the business will get fined.

 

[DDD]

Have you called the HR person and asked what time period is covered on check xyz? I'd be information gathering at this stage and making notes on each person I spoke to and their response etc. I think we have a couple of HR family members who may have explanations or suggestions for you. Sorry this problem popped. Hugs DDD

 

[hearts and roses]

It's usually a good idea to start with the HR person, the payroll person/company, etc. And that is what you should do per DDD's suggestion. Find out how to the minute the payroll is calculated along with the deductions. If they can't pro rate the insurance deductions, I see no reasons why you weren't covered for those additional three days.

At our company, the employee is covered under our policy (at our cost) for an additional 30 days past termination. At that point, the employee may choose to continue coverages via cobra.

Since the company you worked for is so crooked, I would not hesitate to contact your state's dept of labor, as daisy suggested, if you don't get any credible information from the HR people.

These companies try to pull things over their employees or ex employees all the time because they aren't counting on them to follow through, do their homework and contact the appropriate authorities.

Best of luck. I hope you win this one.

 

[AnnieO]

I agree. Go to the DOL. ANY reputable business - ANY - would continue coverage to the end of the month in which you were terminated; if it should be the last day of said month they should cover you for at least 2 weeks past. Regardless.

 

[Star*]

My former boss contacted HR -

They agreed to put back in the ONE hour I was not paid. They also forgot to pay me for an entire day, so agreed to send me a check for those hours, plus the one hour. But HR said they can't pay me for insurance because it is pro-rated. I said I understand the term pro-rated, but I didn't work the entire week following - equaling the sum of $22.48, and I was not there and was not covered also for Thurs, ($3.21), Friday, ($3.21) and Saturday, ($3.21). (My bad -$32.11). I feel they should have at LEAST allowed my coverage to go to the end of that pay period OR give me a refund. They are saying NO.

So you're saying Dept. of Labor handles this right? I have my math and ducks in a row now.

 

[AnnieO]

You're good to go, Starbie... The only thing that would help your case with the DOL is if they take $ for insurance out of this 1-day+1-hour check. THEN, you have MORE proof.

It also depends on what the company policy is AND if you were given an employee handbook that states it as such. Probably, they're in the wrong...

 

[Star*]

Thanks very much - Yeah I'm back in the old - EMPLOYEE REGULATION HANDBOOK again....rofl - Deary me, by the length of this thing, they've had an awful lot of idiots work there - because they have an awful lot of dumb rules. Even that employee purchase rule....(snort)

 

[DammitJanet]

I cannot believe that insurance isnt purchased by the month. I have never known any employer who cancelled an employee's insurance the day they were discharged, it ended the last day of the month that they were no longer employed.

 

[DaisyFace]

I cannot believe that insurance isnt purchased by the month. I have never known any employer who cancelled an employee's insurance the day they were discharged, it ended the last day of the month that they were no longer employed.

It MUST be....I just cannot imagine that the insurance company is billing the business by the day and not by the month...

 

[InsaneCdn]

They agreed to put back in the ONE hour I was not paid

You've GOT to be kidding on that one... Here? If you QUIT they can pull that stuff, but laid-off or fired (for cause or not)... they pay you for the hours you were scheduled to work (given that you showed up at all).
UGH.

 

[Star*]

From what I'm hearing here I guess I should count myself lucky I'm not employed there any longer.


I'll call them tomorrow about the insurance and offer one last chance to pay me back. Then I'm DOL bound.

 

[1905]

How about the dept of insurance and banking? They got an insurance company to stop billing me for something that was years earlier, past the date my ins. co would pay and stated I was responsible. husband's ins. has it clearly stated that if we were to divorce, THAT DAY would be the end of coverage for me. Just FYI. Good Luck with this nightmare, so sorry about the job loss.

 

[Signorina]

Definitely an HR issue or Dept of Labor - not a dept of insurance & banking issue. I too have never seen insurance cease mid month - it's always the last day of the month following the last day worked. (and starts the first day of the month following the first XXX days of employment)

DOL complaints are generally easy to file and easy to submit online and get results quickly. Employers live in fear of that return address.

H's former employer wouldn't pay him for his vacation time - he was owed TWO weeks for that year and his boss had actually cancelled my H's planned vacation time because he was a vital, needed employee that week. His company wouldn't budge - so we looked into it and found he was owed the 2 weeks he had been unable to take - PLUS his accrued vacation time for the following year. So, we sent a letter with a copy of the code and requested the 3 weeks, 4 days he was due by code (instead of the 2 weeks we asked for initially) and they paid up.

 

[DammitJanet]

Yes, I have never seen an insurance company bill by the day. That would be so much paperwork as to be cost prohibitive.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

As an employer who offers both employee-paid and company-paid insurance benefits (depending on the level of the employee), I can tell you that insurance regulations differ from state to state. Insurance companies are very careful to make sure they are in compliance with the regulations of the state they operate in - way too much money to be lost if they loose their license to practice!!!

As someone who has been exposed to insurance all my life (my father owned an insurance company in washington Difficult Child and my last job before my easy child was born was for a benefits consulting company), I can tell you I find this awful strange. Again, the laws in your state may be different. Most employees who pay for their own insurance are paying ahead. Insurance companies bill their clients a month ahead, the company pays the premium, and then the employee is deducted those premiums from their pay. An employee is covered on a month to month basis. If an employee leaves on the 10th, or the 13th or the 21st, their insurance is in effect until the last day of the month they were last an employee. Then you get the COBRA option.

It is definitely possible that your old employer does the "day to day" insurance - but what an administrative nightmare. If their benefits policy says that insurance is "day to day", there is no question they owe you the money. If it's week to week, then it is understandable they deducted but you should have had coverage in effect through the end of the week.

Sharon