Qualified Change in Status Question Can the spouse of an employee joi

[Guest LisaL]

One of our business units recently acquired another company who had offered their employees a PPO and an HMO option. Our company will now (effective 8/1/00) be only offering the employees at that site a PPO option only and will be eliminating the HMO plan. However, one of the employees who was on the HMO plan with the prior company would like to continue with that plan since his wife is pregnant and the HMO will pay 100% of the costs. They've decided that the best way to handle this if for the husband (who is our employee now) to take the PPO plan and the wife to elect COBRA so that she can continue the HMO plan. Once the baby is born obviously the baby can join the PPO plan, but can the wife also join the plan mid-year? Is that considered a qualified status change? If so, does it abide by the consistency rule?

[KIP KRAUS]

Where is the COBRA qualifying event? I'm not sure that dropping a medical plan option results in a qualifying event especially if there will be no prex in the PPO plan, and medical coverage will be continuous??

[Guest LisaL]

The employee and spouse are losing coverage from their previous company- the company that we bought. That company was required to offer all the employees COBRA. Since the HMO plan is no longer an option for these employees- this would be considered a "significant coverage change" and I believe the spouse would be allowed to opt for COBRA for those reasons.

[Guest Lisa Nieman]

Is the birth of a child considered a qualifying event to enroll in your health plan? If so, the mother and child should be able to join as long as application is made in a timely manner.

[Guest Debbie Button]

Under the status change regs the mother could join and the newborn could join but no other children (if there are any) could join. The other children would have to wait until the open enrollment period.