Employees Asked to Verify Health Plan Dependents

In September, Duke will launch an effort to verify the eligibility of all dependents covered by one of its four employee health plans in order to ensure compliance with plan provisions and the appropriate payment of legitimate health claims.

Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for administration, said that the process is part of Human Resources’ continued efforts to manage increasing costs of health care, which climbed to $278.9 million last year.

“Similar verification efforts at similar institutions have resulted in identifying between 2 to 6 percent of dependents who are not eligible to participate,” he said. “While these ineligible participants are often oversights based on changing family status such as divorce, the collective cost to Duke can represent millions of dollars.” 

All employees covering a dependent on Duke’s health plans will be included in the project. Eligible dependents should only include legal spouse, same-sex spousal equivalent, natural children, step-children, adopted children, foster children, or children for whom an eligible employee is the legal guardian up to the child’s 26th birthday.

Duke has partnered with Xerox HR Solutions to verify the eligibility of all dependents covered under Duke’s health plans. Packets will be mailed to employees’ home addresses in early September, requesting appropriate documentation to verify eligibility. 

Documents can be submitted to Xerox HR Solutions online through a secure website or sent by U.S. mail. Proof of eligibility will differ depending on each type of dependent.

• Spouses: submit a copy of pages 1 and 2 of the Federal tax return with income information redacted. Page 2 must include signatures or an e-file confirmation page that contains the filing number. 
• Same-sex spousal equivalents: submit a copy of an affidavit and one other proof of joint ownership.
• Dependent children: submit a birth certificate showing a Duke employee as a parent.
• Other documentation will be required for step, adopted, foster children, children for whom an employee has legal guardianship or children of same-sex spousal equivalents.

All employees covering dependents on Duke's health plans will be required to submit verification of eligibility by Nov. 6, 2015. If eligibility is not verified, the dependents will be removed from the health plan effective Dec. 31, 2015.   

For more information, visit the Duke Human Resources website.