health help: Anyone here a lawyer?

southern_comfort

Anyone here a lawyer?

Need some legal advice please.
My employer is deducting from my pay for supplemental health insurance but is NOT paying the premium to them. I just received notice from the insurance company that they haven’t received the premium payment for the past 3-4 pay periods. What can I do? What SHOULD I do?

This open post was written 6 years, 1 month ago | V/U/S: 1,378, 9, 6 | Edit Post | Leave a reply | Report Post

Reciprocity (25)

Since writing this post southern_comfort has helped in 25 other users' posts within the last 4 days. southern_comfort is a verified member, has been around for 7 years, 1 month and has 133 posts and 18,750 replies to their name.

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law, lawyer, Insurance, company, Health insurance, health, employment, Period, Payment, notice (How Tags Affect Reciprocity)

Replies (9)

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candp 1 #
Las Vegas, NV, US | 6 years, 1 month ago (28 minutes after post)

go or call the district attorney’s office. We are not lawyers but start with them. If they can’t help you they can direct you to someone who can! best wishes!

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gimli 3 #
Marietta, GA, US | 6 years, 1 month ago (36 minutes after post)

Call the health insurance company and tell them that your premiums are being paid by payroll deduction. Then, make sure it’s not an honest mistake, first!

If you were recently hired, it’s possible that your HR department hasn’t brought accounts payable up to speed yet.

I doubt that your employer is deliberately stealing from you. Why would they do that if they were going to get found out so easily?

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Cajun 1 #
Dolores Hidalgo, 11, MX | 6 years, 1 month ago (1 hour, 25 minutes after post)

Advise your employer that you recieved the notice and that they should correct the problem and reimburse you for the amount they took. It maybe an oversite, but if they don’t take the appropriate action, advise them that you are going to not only persue civil action against the company, but criminal action against the payrole clerk aswell because they were the ones who deducted the money even if they were not the ones who ended up with the money, they were the ones who withheld it from you. The police will tell you its a civil matter but it is not its theft, its just not the type of theft they normally deal with. A civil problem is there catch all phrase they use when they dont know what to do. And if it gets nearthat point, look for another job, sounds like you may need one soon anyway. (one of my employees was caught stealing from me once so I withheld his taxes, social security and child support for a few weeks until the restitution was made, when he noticed it was too late, I was paid back. I then fired him. Of course I could have been arrested and sued, but my point was made)

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southern_comfort 17 #
An Undisclosed Location | 6 years, 1 month ago (5 hours, 44 minutes after post)

This is a very small company; 16 employees between 2 seperate offices. The owner (middle aged female) has admitted the company is in financial straits at the present time. The office I am in now has 8 employees, down from 11.

I have already talked to the ex-office manager who use to handle payroll. I have also called my insurance agent. She said whe would check into my situation first thing on Monday morning. Her office is on the same floor as our office but several doors down the hall. When I was speaking to the ex-office manager, she was not too surprised about this news.

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cwa_tn 2 #
Winnipeg, MB, CA | 6 years ago (2 weeks, 2 days after post)

sounds kind of dicey, but it may be an honest mistake, see how it goes before confronting anyone.

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krazykittykat69 1 #
An Unknown Location | 5 years, 11 months ago (1 month, 4 weeks after post)

See how it goes? This is america where if you don’t have insurance (that’s valid) they will watch you wither away before their eyes.

Best thing to do is confront them. And be sure to ask them what they expect you to do when your sick and they didnt pay the bill, are they going to cover the expenses?

Worst thing that can happen is they’ll let you go. Which depending, may or may not be legal… Usually not. But if you say the companys sinking you might just want to get out while the gettings good and go with a company that pays its bills.

(Just my opinion.)

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Flatlander 2 #
Portland, OR, US | 5 years, 10 months ago (3 months after post)

Keep your proof of all your non-paid payroll deductions first off. Send those, as well as an explanation in writing to your health care provider and your place of employment. Make copies of what you send them. Make sure when you send these papers to each place that you send it registered mail as proof that you sent it and proof that they received it. Then, after everything has been formalized THEN see what they do as a response to your request to remedy the situation. By creating a paper trail so to speak, you are in essence proving that they either

1.) Owe you the money back
2.) Will be responsible for any accrued medical bills and out-of-pocket expenses for anything medically related that should have been covered through insurance since they were the ones responsible for non-payment. You will win this one in court if ever the opportunity arises.
3.) Back pay the medical insurance premiums they owe on your behalf

Also, you can call the Labor Board where you live and the Better Business Bureau. If the company goes under, your only option would be to sue them in civil court for any back pay and/or medical premiums not reimbursed, yet there would be a cap on that as well according to your state.

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southern_comfort 17 #
An Undisclosed Location | 5 years, 10 months ago (3 months after post)

Thanks Flatlander. I appreciate your post.

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grackel2 #
An Unknown Location | 4 years, 9 months ago (1 year, 4 months after post)

If your state has an insurance commissioner, call that office. If not, the employment division or state attorney general may help you. No matter what, you are unlikely to have your medical expenses covered if the premium was not paid. It’s possible you can sue your employer to make the company cover such costs if the insurance was part of the compensation they agreed to when you were hired.

Keep a paper trail in case you are fired in retaliation. Depending on what kind of employer it is and whether their nonpayment constitutes fraud, you may be protected by a state whistle-blower statute.

By the way, this is not legal advice. If the insurance commissioner, employment division or attorney general’s office cannot help you, consulting a private attorney may be a smart move, but only if you actually have a loss (unpaid medical bills.) Best possible outcome would be the company agrees to pay those medical bills and any future medical excluded from insurance coverage as a pre-existing condition that arose during the period that your employer failed to pay the premium.

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Anyone here a lawyer?

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