Can I Kick My Live-in Girlfriend Off My Health Insurance?
What to do about monster health premiums for a domestic partner, a stolen UberEats order, and a tanked credit score.
Thanks for reading the new Other People’s Money newsletter! Every week, I’ll answer a few messy money problems. You can support this newsletter by subscribing or by asking a question using this anonymous Google form. Selected questions will be answered by me, Robin Hartill, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™.
Can I Kick My Live-in Girlfriend Off My Health Insurance?
Dear Robin,
My domestic partner recently took a job that doesn’t provide health care, so she joined my company’s health insurance under my plan. We thought that was a smarter (and cheaper) move than her getting coverage through the Marketplace, but I wasn’t aware of the cost implications.
Now I’m getting $700 less each month in net pay. What’s going on!? Can I remove her from my health plan?
-T.
Dear T.,
Adding a domestic partner to your health plan often comes with a double whammy: Unlike coverage for employees, spouses and dependents, companies don’t usually subsidize premiums for domestic partners. Then, the IRS treats domestic partner health benefits as taxable benefits that are also subject to payroll taxes – which isn’t the case with health benefits for workers or their spouses, children or other dependents.
So essentially, you’re paying the full cost of your partner’s premiums. Then, the IRS is withholding additional money from your paycheck for the taxes.
I’m afraid you’re stuck with this situation for now until open enrollment, which is the one time during the year that you can sign up for coverage or make changes to your plan. To change group coverage outside of annual enrollment, you need to have what’s known as a qualifying life event, like losing health insurance due a layoff, moving, getting married or divorced, ending a domestic partnership, or having a child.
The obvious solution in the interim is for your girlfriend to pay you $700 each month for her coverage. Then you can compare her current coverage against Marketplace plans during your company’s next open enrollment period.
If she qualifies for income-based subsidies, she may be able to save money with a Marketplace plan. But your employer’s plan may still be the better option, especially if your girlfriend earns isn’t eligible for subsidies.
Employers can typically negotiate better rates because they’re pooling risks across many different people. As a result, group plans often have lower premiums (even when you’re paying the full cost) and out-of-pocket maximums, plus a larger network of providers.
Since your girlfriend is locked into this plan for now, she should take full advantage by getting a physical and any recommended screenings. The best choice for insurance often boils down to how much healthcare you intend to use.
Bronze-level Marketplace plans – which have low premiums but high out-of-pocket costs – may save money for someone who’s healthy and doesn’t take many medications. But people with chronic health conditions should often choose the option with lower out-of-pocket expenses, even if it means paying higher premiums. So she should consider not just the premiums and associated taxes, but also the copays and deductibles when choosing plans.
My Neighbor Ate My $41 Uber Eats Order. Shouldn’t He Pay Up?
Dear Robin,
I (“Jamie”) live on a rental property with two units. The other tenant (“Tim”) and I often accidentally receive each other’s deliveries but usually return them without issue
A couple nights ago, I ordered pad thai and egg rolls through UberEats. The order, including a 20% tip for the driver, came to $41. I got a message saying the order had been delivered, but it wasn’t outside my door, nor did it have the confirmation photo showing the order on my doorstep.
I called the driver, and he said there was a guy standing outside my house who was clearly Tim from the description. The driver said, “order for Jamie,” and Tim said, “Yep” and took the order. The driver was worried Uber Eats would think he’d personally stolen the order.
So I texted Tim to ask if he’d gotten my order. He called me back and apologized, saying he’d ordered a burrito from Uber Eats, then mistakenly grabbed my order, thinking it was his. I asked if I could pick up my food. He said no because he’d accidentally eaten my order, thinking it was his. How the hell could he mistake pad thai and eggrolls for a burrito?
I assumed he’d offer to Venmo me the money. Instead, he told me I should report that the order never arrived to Uber Eats and said I was welcome to take his burrito when it arrived… but it never arrived! He swore the app told him it was delivered. Now I’m left wondering if the burrito even existed. Even if it had arrived, I don’t think a $10 burrito is a fair swap for a $41 order.
I wound up reporting the order missing and got a refund (only for the order and not the driver tip). Not to mention the fact that I had to go to the grocery store and cook dinner for myself, which took an hour and a half on a night when I was deluged with work.
It’s been a couple days, and I still haven’t seen Tim. But I’m still floored that he would steal my order. Should I demand that he reimburse me? Tell our landlord that he’s a thief?
-Still Hangry
Dear Hangry,
Maybe Tim thought the egg rolls were mini burritos. Maybe he thought the pad thai was a deconstructed burrito bowl. But if Tim hasn’t snatched your past deliveries, I’d chalk this up to an honest mistake, albeit one fueled by potent edibles.
You could have just asked Tim directly to reimburse you while you had him on the phone. A
good script might have been: “I get that this was an honest mistake, but I don’t want to lie and say the order didn’t arrive because that could get the driver in trouble. Could you Venmo me the $41?”
But bringing it up several days after the fact will make things unnecessarily awkward. If UberEats reimbursed everything but the 20% tip, you’re out $8 and 90 minutes. These are sunk costs. Don’t go to war with a neighbor if this isn’t a pattern.
To avoid a repeat, ask future delivery drivers to leave the order at your door with a confirmation photo and not hand it off to anyone.
If this happens again, ask Tim to directly reimburse you, including the tip – which, of course, if what he should have offered in the first place. If he refuses, report to UberEats that he took your order. And if it happens a third time, it’s a pattern, so then you can tell your landlord that Tim has sticky fingers.
I Forgot to Make a $10 Payment. It Wrecked My Credit Score
Dear Robin,
To keep my credit score as high as possible, I keep my oldest credit card open. I only use it for a $10 monthly subscription to keep my usage active and have it set to autopay.
Somehow my autopay got switched off, and the bill became three months delinquent. My credit score dropped over 100 flipping points – over a $10 monthly payment. How do I fix that?
-Delinquent Over $10
Dear Delinquent,
Ouch. It’s incredible how much havoc a single slip-up can wreak on your credit score, even after years of responsible usage.
You could try writing your bank what’s known as a goodwill letter, which is where you ask a creditor to remove negative information from your credit reports. You can find a sample template here.
Include the details of the autopay mix-up, along with any other extenuating circumstances, like if you were sick or dealing with a natural disaster when you missed the payment.
Your creditor doesn’t need to respond to the letter. And some banks, like Bank of America and Chase, explicitly state that they won’t consider goodwill letters. But since it only takes a few minutes, it’s worth a try.
Unfortunately, a delinquency stays on your credit report for seven years if you can’t get the creditor to remove it. But you can still add a statement to your credit report explaining the circumstances, which may be helpful to a human who’s assessing your creditworthiness.
The impact on your credit score is most severe immediately after the black mark appears. The effect will diminish fairly quickly, particularly if you have several open credit accounts, you keep your balances low and you make otherwise on-time payments.
You may want to avoid applying for a new credit card for a few months while the damage is still fresh. But if you want to finance a major purchase, like a home or car, you may not have too much difficulty.
A human is typically involved at least to some extent in underwriting decisions for mortgages and car loans. If you have a long credit history, they’ll probably be able to conclude that a minor one-time delinquency doesn’t make you a high risk of defaulting.
Money Chatter
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