As many of you know by now, our family has a new member. Since we recently welcomed a new child into our household, it seems like a great time to remind you that when you experience a Qualifying Life Event (QLE), our policy grants you a 30-day Special Enrollment Period (SEP). What do these acronyms mean? Well, QLEs include (but are not necessarily limited to) getting married, getting divorced, having or adopting a child, the death of someone who shares your health plan, loss of health insurance, and a change in employment status.
The SEP is a period of time when you have a qualifying QLE during which you can make changes to your plan, such as adding a new family member. Otherwise, changes to your healthcare plan can only occur during open enrollment, an annual period of time available for all participants to make changes to their plan.
During your SEP, you can not only make additions or removals from your coverage, but you can also change your Flexible Spending Account (FSA) amount if needed.
It’s important to remember that you only have 30 days! Once that window is closed, you will need to wait until open enrollment to make any changes.
We just added someone to our plan. Usually, we require a Social Security number to add a new dependent, but in cases of adoption (and sometimes other situations, due to bureaucracy’s pace), you might not have that number immediately. It’s more important that you inform us of the change than that everything is in order. We can always add someone temporarily or at least guide you through the process, such as in the case of a divorce, for us to make the change.
So, let MI Benefits Guy know what’s happening in your life! Whether it’s a QLE that will give you a 30-day SEP or not, I want to know, but I especially want to know if you’ve had a QLE and need to make changes to your coverage. If you’re unsure whether it qualifies as a QLE, contact me and I’ll let you know. Here’s to changes, both good and bad, and to keeping MI Benefits Guy informed so you and everyone in your family is covered!
Last Updated on February 26, 2026