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Changing Your Benefits
Once you make your benefits elections, the choices you make for your medical, dental, and vision coverage and for contributions to FSAs generally stay in effect for the remainder of the calendar year. Except in a few special cases, you cannot start health-care coverage or an FSA in the middle of the year. You also cannot change or cancel healthcare coverage or an FSA for which you have already enrolled.
When Mid-Year Healthcare Changes Are Permitted
The most common situation where you are permitted to make changes in your health-care coverage or FSAs is a change in family status, such as the birth or adoption of a child or you get married and you want to add a new spouse to your benefits. Even in these situations, however, there are limits to your ability to make changes:
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You have only 31 days after your status changes to modify your healthcare coverage and/or FSA elections.
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Any changes you make must be consistent with the actual change in your status. For example, if you get married or have a child, you can add a spouse or dependent, but you cannot change from one medical option to another; or if your spouse changes jobs and enrolls in coverage with his/her new employer, you can decrease your coverage by one, but you cannot change from one medical option to another or add coverage you did not previously elect.
One other situation would allow you to change your healthcare coverage during the year: if you do not enroll for The McGraw-Hill Companies' healthcare benefits because you have other health insurance coverage (such as through your spouse's or domestic partner's employer) and that other coverage ends. If you have waived McGraw-Hill coverage to participate in your spouse or domestic partner's plan, you may be able to enroll for the healthcare coverage with McGraw-Hill. Again, you will have only 31 days from the effective date of that event to enroll in The McGraw-Hill Companies' healthcare benefits.
You can change your life and accident insurance, disability coverage, and long-term care insurance elections any time during the year. However, you may be required to provide evidence of insurability before coverage is effective, but the opportunity to make changes is not limited to a special period.
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