AUDIT -- it's a five letter word that is merely a nuisance to some - and terrifying to others. Of course, unless you are a business owner, or an accountant, it's probably not something you lose a lot of sleep over.Until now. As a sign of the very-expensive-health-costs times, your employer may decide to do an audit of its own -- an audit of the dependents on your health insurance. Why? Because health costs have become a major expense to employers, and they are looking to rein in those costs as much as possible. Here's what happens: you get a letter from your employer telling you they are doing a dependent audit. Specifically they are looking to see if you have claimed anyone on your health insurance who shouldn't be there. People like:
- a child who is over the age of 18 and out of school
- a partner you aren't legally married to (although in some states partners do share benefits)
- an ex-spouse
- anyone who is not legally entitled to be there according to your policy.
According to the "New York Times", 69% of large employers plan to conduct one of these dependent audits during the next year. Their anticipated savings? Thousands of dollars to millions of dollars. Certainly worth their cost to run such an audit.
http://patients.about.com/b/2010/06/15/whos-on-your-insurance-plan-do-they-belong-there.htm
For more Information, contact Rosenkilde & Associates at (800) 564-0169