Can an insurance company terminate your plan if you are on medical leave?
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Can an insurance company terminate your plan if you are on medical leave?
I have been on medical leave for a well known hospital for 2 years; the doctor will not release me until they figure out the cause of my illnesses. The hospital has put me down as being retired. which I never agreed to. I went to an appointment that I had scheduled with my doctor and they told me that my insurance had been terminated. How can that be possible if I never retired and if I never was terminated from my position at the hospital. Now the insurance company is trying to make me go through another company that wants me to pay an extreme amount of money.
Asked on September 15, 2010 under Insurance Law, Georgia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
Your employment *may* have been terminated. There is no law requiring an employee to retain an employee on medical leave for two years; if you were out that long, unless you had a contractual (e.g. in an employment agreement) entitltement to that amount of leave, or were using accumulated earned leave time, odds are good your employment was in fact terminated. Also, depending on the terms of the health insurance policy, it may be only "active" employees were entitled to it. For a definitive answer, you need to consult with an attorney, one who can review any agreements with your employer, any correspondence, the terms of the insurance policy, etc.; at a glance, however, it would actually be somewhat unusual to be insured by an employer while out for 2 years on medical leave.
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