One of the unpleasant realities many bereaved people are unprepared for is that death comes with a lot of admin. The deceased person’s accounts and responsibilities do not go away once they have died. On the contrary, they get passed on to their nearest relative (or the person they have specified as executor of their estate).
Some matters can be taken care of long after the person has died. Others, however, need to be taken care of fairly quickly. Many accounts that the deceased paid for on a monthly basis will continue to be paid if you do not make the necessary cancellations.
Health insurance is one such example. Your loved one’s health insurance will continue to be billed until it is cancelled.
You don’t want to be left in the dark during this troubling time. As such, here is what you need to know about cancelling health insurance after your loved one’s death.
Get multiple copies of the death certificate
Your loved one’s death certificate is going to be an incredibly important document in the months and years to come. This will serve as proof to any provider that your loved one has in fact passed away. It will facilitate the cancellation of accounts, as well as the payouts of any benefits.
You’ll need multiple copies of the death certificate to be made. You can organize this directly with the funeral director, who can sign many of them at a time. It is recommended that you get between 24 to 36 death certificates.
Call the health insurance provider
Your loved one’s death certificate is the most important document to have on hand, but you may need other documents as well. You will also need to fill out some paperwork. In order to find the exact requirements, you need to call the health insurance provider. Each provider may have different forms to fill out and may require different documents.
For dependents
If the deceased person has dependents on their health insurance plan, you will need to get health insurance for each individual. You can seek out private providers if you have a preference. Alternatively, you can go to the government health insurance marketplace to find ACA plans for which you are eligible.
ACA plans have enrolment periods which apply to most people. In other words, you can’t just apply at any time. It usually runs from 1 November to the middle of January. However, there are exceptions known as qualifying life events (QLEs). Your loved one’s death is a QLE.
This QLE gives you the chance to enrol for the following 60 days. If you do not apply for new health insurance during the 60 days after your loved one’s death, you will need to wait for the next open enrolment period.
Cancelling other insurance plans
Health insurance is not the only plan you will need to cancel for your loved one. Rather, you will need to cancel each and every insurance plan they own. With things like car and home insurance, the inheritor will have to transfer the insurance to their name or apply for new policies.
What about life insurance? If your loved one had term life insurance, it should pay out after their death. When you provide the insurer with the death certificate and any other documentation they require, they will pay out the claim and cancel the policy in the process.
You may need to do some more research regarding your loved one’s estate to determine if they had any other types of insurance, including unemployment insurance, pet insurance, and disability insurance.
This should help you with some of the admin that follows in the wake of your loved one’s death. Remember that the death certificate is going to be extremely important, and you should get as many as you need made.
