Qualifying Life Events

Eligible employees have 30 days from date of hire to enroll themselves and their eligible dependents in benefits.   Employees who waits longer than 30 days from date of hire to enroll or waive enrollment in benefits, must until the next annual Open Enrollment period to enroll.  Open Enrollment usually occurs during the month of May. 

A change in status, may make you eligible for a Special Enrollment Period, allowing you to enroll in the County’s health insurance outside of the yearly Open Enrollment Period.  

You must notify your Department’s Employee Service Center within 30 days of qualifying life event in order to make a change in your health coverage.  Some examples of a qualifying life events are:

• Loss of health coverage
  • Losing existing health coverage
  • Turning 26 and losing coverage through a parent’s plan
• Change in household
  • Getting married, divorced or establishing a registered domestic partner
  • Having a baby, adopting a child, or legal guardianship
• Other qualifying events
  • Significant change in employee’s plan cost
  • Moving to a different ZIP code or county

If you wait longer than 30 days from a qualifying event to enroll your eligible family members, you must wait to enroll until the annual open enrollment period held each year usually during the month of May.

You are responsible for updating your dependent status during the plan year. Any elections that are made during open enrollment or a qualifying event will remain in effect for the entire plan year. Failure to submit notification in a timely manner may impact dependent eligibility for health care continuation under COBRA, and may result in you incurring liability for medical expenses for non-eligible dependents.

Contact your Departmental Employee Service Center​ to find out which forms need to be completed for payroll, benefits and other official County purposes.