Cal-COBRA Insurance Cancelled Due to Nonpayment But No Notice Given

I was let go earlier in the year by a company with less than 50 employees. I was remote (my wife and I are residents of South Dakota as full time travelers), but the company was in California. Our insurance plan is through United Health Care of California. After being let go, I got continuation insurance through Cal-COBRA (CA state program for companies under 50 employees).

In the midst of a move we replaced a lost credit card, and we weren't paying close attention to mail. Apparently, the premiums for May and June were not paid as I didn't update the payment source. I received no mail notice (just regular invoices), calls or digital message that we had not paid. I looked up the mail history on uhcservices.com to confirm all this. They keep a digital record of all the mail sent.

Our June invoice (sent in May) showed that there was a past due balance, but there was no call out beyond that, no "pay in [x] days, or we'll cancel your insurance". They do include the following on every invoice:

Note: To assure continued and uninterrupted coverage, you are responsible for making timely premium payments even if you do not receive monthly premium reminders. The past due amount can cause a suspension or termination of coverage until the payment is received. It is important to remember that your past due amount must be paid within the original grace period. You can make your payment by visiting https://uhcservices.com.

If you are set up to make payments through EFT directly from your checking/savings account or credit/debit card, this billing notice is just a reminder that the amount listed will be drafted from your account.

UnitedHealthcare is providing billing services for you under the [FORMER EMPLOYER] group benefit plan(s). Enclosed is your remittance slip which reflects the premium due and payable for your coverage. In order to maintain eligibility under the group benefit plan(s), your payment must be received and postmarked no later than the coverage end date noted above. Failure to remit payment prior to the coverage end date may result in a loss of coverage without the possibility of reinstatement. Detailed account information, payment information and electronic copies of mailings sent to you can be found on your account at https://uhcservices.com.

This is a standard disclaimer on every invoice. This does not appear to me to be an actual 30 day notice that our coverage will be canceled.

A couple other points:

They sent a letter indicating the plan was cancelled a little over a week ago, but our mail is at a different address. It's being shipped to us now, I just saw this in the https://uhcservices.com mail history. We called because I had issue using this for a standard test. They told her that it was cancelled, and gave her an email to contact. She did email them, and we received an email today saying that it would not be reinstated. I then called Member Services shortly after she sent her email, and they actually processed a payment for me using a bank transfer. I got an email confirmation that the payment was scheduled, but it hasn't yet deducted from our account presumably as it is a bank holiday today. The agent told me that it would take 3-5 business days to reinstate the policy. My wife is also pregnant.

I'm hopeful that this scheduled payment goes through, and the agent was correct in that it will be reinstated. She assured me that it should be, but in the case that it is not:

Can the footnote I shared above actually be considered a notice that I have 30 days to pay or else the insurance would be cancelled? Any ideas on what our options are here to ensure this is reinstated? If not, is there anyway to frame this as a qualifying life event for marketplace enrollment (at least for my pregnant wife)?

Thanks in advance for any advice. Happy to engage a lawyer if necessary, but trying to get some understanding of the system and requirements before I do.

submitted by /u/ClassicAppropriate72
[comments]