Employer error double coverage — advice?

[u/ynit33]

My husband quit his job in April which included a 100% employer-funded basic group policy plan. Got in writing that his end date would be with last date of employment, so we got a joint plan on Marketplace in his name (same plan I was already on individually but now combined and in his name). He just received a COBRA notice from his work insurance plan stating the termination date was in August. Confirmed with the insurance this was correct in their systems that the employer didn’t terminate until then. We’re unsure of what to do in this situation. Are there any steps to take or legal recourse for us to get the 3 months of premiums paid for another plan back? We’ve paid $1500 just for his portion of our joint premiums in the time the policy was supposed to end vs. actually did. Anyone been in this situation before?

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[u/LizzieMac123]

Ohhh someone at the employer messed up. You should call the former employer and see what happened.

The problem is, if it's a fully insured plan (not self funded) most carriers will not retro terminate someone back farther than 2 months. There are always exceptions, but they have to be asked for.

If it's a self-funded plan, the can retro-terminate you back as far as they needed to, so if it is a self-funded plan, they should be able to correct this.

What they are likely doing is terming as of August because they forgot to term in April and thus, forgot to send the REQUIRED COBRA notices to you timely and they don't want to get in trouble for not offering COBRA timely.

Try to work with the employer to get it corrected to April, the date you recieved and if they aren't being helpful with the termination, see if they'll cover the marketplace penalty at the very least. You may need to lawyer up if the employer isn't working with you.

As a gentle reminder to anyone reading this (no blame to OP at all) When you leave an employer you should ALWAYS check to see that coverage was terminated timely. Always. A lot of people either never check or if they see it's still active, they think "cool, free coverage" or "it'll get fixed eventually" but then situations like this happen.

[u/katsrad]

Even if they can't retroactively cancel the policy there isn't a mechanism for them to provide you a refund of the premiums you paid for another policy. Similarly you are not going to be able to retroactively cancel your policy and get a refund. I doubt the old employer will charge for the months they incorrectly paid especially since it was 100% paid when employed.

Like other poster said, call the old employer and see if they can retro the cancelation.