In 2014, the Internal Revenue Service expanded the events that would allow employees to drop their health plan coverage under their employer’s cafeteria plan. As a reminder, the general rule is that once an employee enrolls in his or her employer’s group health plan through a cafeteria plan — which is what allows the employee to pay his or her required premiums on a pre-tax basis — that enrollment is irrevocable for the entire plan year unless a qualifying “change in status” event occurs.
In order for an employee to change his enrollment election, the change in status event also must affect the employee’s (or his spouse’s or dependent’s) eligibility for the health plan coverage. Typical change in status events include marriage, divorce, birth of a child, change in status from full-time to part-time, etc.
