The examples below should not be construed as investment advice. Please consult one of our Agents for specific information and always consult a CPA and an Attorney before you purchase Insurance.

1. Marriage. If you and your new spouse both have employee health plans, it’s best to compare the health benefits, cost and options under both plans to decide which one works best for you. Check the amounts of any deductibles or copays and what you will pay for premiums. Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), you may be entitled to add yourself, a new spouse and children to your employer's plan or to your spouse's employer's plan under a special enrollment period. To qualify, you must notify the plan in writing and request special enrollment for everyone enrolling within 30 days of your marriage.

 2. Pregnancy, Childbirth and Adoption. Health care plans cannot consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition, even if the woman did not have previous coverage.  Birth and adoption (including placement for adoption) may trigger an enrollment period during which you, your spouse and new dependents can enroll in your employer's plan. Additionally, newborns and adopted children are not subject to pre-existing condition exclusions if they enroll within 30 days of the birth or adoption.

Under the Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act, plans that provide maternity or newborn benefits generally must provide coverage for mothers and newborns to stay in the hospital at least 48 hours following a vaginal delivery or 96 hours following a cesarean section, unless the doctor or other attending provider in consultation with the mother discharges earlier.

You must notify your plan in writing and request special enrollment within 30 days of your child's birth, adoption, or placement for adoption. The child's enrollment will be treated as occurring on the date of the birth, adoption, or placement for adoption.

3. When covered, dependent children turn 19 (or 25 for full-time students), they may no longer be covered under your health care plan. If this is the case, notify your employer in writing within 60-days. Thereafter, your plan should notify your child of their right to purchase health care benefits up to 36-months under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), which generally covers group health plans maintained by employers with 20 or more employees. Your child will have 60-days from the date the notice was sent to elect COBRA coverage. The cost may be higher, yet less than individual coverage.  

Please note - Insurance Matters also represents short-term, medical benefit programs, which is normally run from 30 to 180 days.   

4. If a covered employee dies, legally separates or becomes divorced, their covered spouses and dependent children may also be eligible to purchase temporary extended health coverage through COBRA for up to 36-months.    

Should the employee who is covered by the health care plan die, the employer must notify the plan within 30 days. If there is a divorce or legal separation, the covered employee, spouse or dependent children must notify the plan in writing within 60 days. In case of death, divorce or legal separation of the covered employee, the plan should notify the eligible spouse and dependent children who would lose coverage under the plan of their right to purchase temporary extended health care coverage. Most plans require eligible individuals to make their COBRA election within 60 days of the plan's notice.

5. Tax-free compensation (www.MoneyCentral.msn.com). When you're due for a raise, ask your company to get creative in your compensation. There are numerous ways to receive non-taxable compensation. Let's look at some of the best alternatives to taxable earned income.

6. Use your health coverage. Health and hospitalization insurance premiums paid by your current or former employer are tax-free -- a huge benefit. Let's say your health insurance premiums come to $280 a month or $3,360 a year (for a PPO policy for a family of four with a $1,500 deductible). If you're in the 25% tax bracket and have to pick up the bill, the real cost to you would be $4,480. That's $3,360 for the premiums and $1,120 for additional income taxes because you'll be paying for the coverage in after-tax dollars. Having your company pick up the cost helps both of you. It doesn't have to pay the salary necessary to get you even. It gets to write off the full cost of the coverage, neither of you has to pay the 7.65% payroll taxes on the premiums, and you boost your disposable income substantially.

7. Cover your life. Group term life insurance coverage of $50,000 or less paid for by your company isn't taxed to you. You pick the beneficiary and your company pays the premiums. Your company deducts the expense, while you walk away with additional tax-free income.

8. IRC Section 125 allows employees to pay certain premiums with pre-tax dollars, which provides both the employee and employer a tax saving.

9. Some Colorado employers with a qualifying new business facility are allowed a two-year, $200 tax credit for each new business facility employee with a qualified insurance plan.

Please Note
Information on this Web site is only intended as general summary information that is made available to the public. Insurance Matters' information should not be construed as medical or investment advice. Please consult one of our Agents for specific information and always consult a CPA and an Attorney before you purchase Insurance.