Hi,

My sister is having a baby in November. She has been employed with her company for 10 months. They told her she can take short term disablity and it pays her 60% of her salary. The Doctor just told her he wants her to stop working on October 29th. When she told her employer this, they told her that her insurance would be cancelled on the last day of work and reinstated when she returns from her short term disability. Can they do this? Her insurance has been covering all her prenatal visits, but now they are going to cancel her insurance right before the baby's birth. She is very upset, on having to be stuck with no insurance when she has the baby. Any advice would be greatly appreciate. Thanks.

How many employees does the employer have within 75 miles of her location?

When will her one year anniversary be with relation to the baby's birth?

The employer has over 100 employees.

Her 1Yr annnivarsary is 2 months after the baby's birth. But, she is elgible for short term disability because she has been there over 6 months. The state is Connecticut.

I was under the impression that you are on short term disablity, you are treated as if you are still employed. Which means your insurance benefits would not get interrupted as long as you pay your portion of the premiums.

No, that is not the way the law reads. When an employee is on FMLA, the employer is required to keep all benefits in place. But she will not be eligible for FMLA until her one-year anniversary. There is no law requiring that employees on STD be granted all the same benefits as employees who are still at work. Most employers do so, because frankly it is more trouble, administratively, to cancel the insurance and then reinstate it than it is to simply leave it in place. But it is not the law.

That being the case, IF they cancel the insurance for ALL employees who do not qualify for FMLA and who take short term disability, they can do it for her. If they leave the insurance in place for non-maternity, non-FMLA employees, they have to leave it in place for her.

If they do cancel the insurance, she WILL be eligible for COBRA, which means she can remain on the insurance at her own expense. That is Federal law; there is no way they legally can deny her COBRA under the circumstances you describe.