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Making a People Operations Wiki on Coda

Making a People Operations Wiki on Coda

Benefits

Domestic Partnership Coverage

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Domestic Partnerships’s premiums are covered in your insurance plan with Coda paying 100% of the premium for you and your Domestic Partner (DP). However, the employee is responsible for some taxes.

Who’s eligible to be a domestic partner?

Insurance is regulated on a state-by-state basis, but for Coda’s purposes a domestic partner who qualifies for medical coverage is defined by a person who satisfies the following:

Are at least 18 years of age

Are not legally married to any person and not related in any way that would prohibit marriage in your respective state

Are each other’s sole domestic partner.

Share permanent residence.

How do I enroll my domestic partner?

During the benefit enrollment workflow there is a section for Domestic Partner Enrollment with links to the following forms. Please select the appropriate form for your specific needs.

Declaration of Benefits Eligibility Form: This form is for employees who are adding a non-registered domestic partner onto their plan(s). Meaning that the relationship is not registered with the state of residence. In this case, the form would need to be completed by both parties as proof that the relationship meets the eligibility requirements listed on the form.

Declaration of Tax Treatment Form: If your partner is an IRS-qualifying dependent on your federal tax return, then the cost to cover your domestic partner would not need to be taxed. If this is the case, please complete the "Declaration of Tax Treatment form".

Declaration of Tax Treatment.pdf

96.3 kB

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What about my domestic partner’s children?

Your Domestic Partner's children are eligible for benefits as well. When adding your Domestic Partner's children, please make sure to select “Domestic Partner - Son/Daughter” as the relationship status.

Enrolling a domestic partner mid-year?

There are two QLE scenarios which would allow a mid-year enrollment (as opposed to during New Hire or Open Enrollment):

Registration of Domestic Partnership with the State

Domestic Partner Loss of Coverage

Steps to initiate a mid-year enrollment

To add your domestic partner mid plan year, please complete the following steps (including uploading proof of event documentation before submitting) within 30 days of the event:

Sign into the WorkLife portal

Click on "Benefits" > "Update Benefits (Life Event)"

Click "Report Life Event" and select your respective event

If Registration of DP with the State: “Marriage” as the Life Event Reason > and the first of the month following the date of Domestic Partnership State Registration

If DP Loss of Coverage: “Loss of Coverage” as the Life Event Reason > the first date without coverage

Click "Launch Benefit Enrollment"

Follow the prompts to make your election changes

Upload documentation on the Benefit Summary Page; click the upload symbol next to the required document > Select the documentation from your files > Click Open > and be sure to click on the blue “Upload” button before you submit

If Registration of DP with the State: Domestic Partnership State Registration

If DP Loss of Coverage: Document can be a letter from the prior carrier, COBRA packet, letter from Human Resources of the company that provided the coverage, etc. The documentation must include:

Name of individuals that have lost coverage

Type of coverage lost (i.e. Medical/Dental/Vision)

Date coverage ended

When ready, click "Submit"

If DP Loss of Coverage: Both employee and your domestic partner need to complete the attached affidavit and send to [contact email]

IMPORTANT

Make sure your proof of event documentation is attached. Missing documentation can delay your life event processing and/or lead to a denied life event.

Your enrollment should include all existing coverage's that should not change as well as the requested changes due to the life event.

If you get a "The employee already has a Beneficiary Trust with the same name" error. This means that the dependent is currently listed as a beneficiary only. To fix this, please reach out to [contact email] with the dependents first and last name.

The Sequoia Advocate Team will be notified once the Qualifying Life Event (QLE) is submitted. Please note, you must submit your enrollment in benefits within 30 days of the DP’s QLE. If you miss the Qualifying Event window, your next opportunity to enroll will be during Coda’s Annual Open Enrollment.

IMPORTANT, Tax Implications:

Domestic Partnership are not federally recognized and are not considered a spouse under federal law. As a result, if you elect to cover your domestic partner on your benefit plan(s), the coverage is considered imputed income and you will pay income tax and Social Security payroll tax on the DP’s portion of the premium.

For example:

Please note, numbers are for the purpose of the example. The actual numbers depends on the plan you select

Employee Only premium is $1,000/month

Employee + DP premium is $1,400/month. That means that the DP portion is $400/month

Employee pays taxes on $400/month. Tax deduction is included in your paycheck.

Taxes % is the same % as for Income + Social Security Tax

If your partner is an IRS-qualifying dependent on your federal tax return, these benefits would not be taxed. To qualify as a dependent, your partner must receive more than half of his or her support from you. If your partner is a dependent, you might also be eligible for other favorable tax treatment. If you think that your partner might be your dependent under federal law, consult a tax professional. If this is the case, please let The Sequoia Advocate Team know via [email] and they will provide you the "Declaration of Tax Treatment form" that would need to be completed to suppress tax withholding for your partner.

How does a HSA account work for my domestic partner?

Since domestic partners are not married, they are viewed as separate tax entities. This means you can both contribute up to the family maximum to your own HSAs if both of you are covered in a family health plan, even if it is the same family health plan. That means both of you could contribute up to $7,200 for the 2021 tax year. Your DP would have to open up their own HSA account in order to benefit from this.

Please note, your DP will be subject to any account management fees depending on which HSA provider they choose.

You are unable to transfer funds from your account to your domestic partner. HSAs operate as individual accounts.

Coda will only make employer contributions to the employee’s account (not your domestic partner).

Because HSAs follow federal tax rules, you cannot reimburse a domestic partner’s expenses from your HSA account because they are not a taxable dependent unless that individual qualifies in another way (such as being a tax dependent due to disability).

How do I remove my domestic partner from my benefits?

To remove your domestic partner from your benefits, we will need you to complete the following steps within 30 days of the dissolution of partnership:

Sign into the WorkLife portal

Click on "Benefits" > "Update Benefits (Life Event)"

Click "Report Life Event" > select the Life Event Reason > and the date of the event

Click "Launch Benefit Enrollment"

Follow the prompts to make your election changes

Upload the signed Declaration of Termination of Domestic Partnership

When ready, click "Submit"

IMPORTANT

Your enrollment should include all existing coverage's that should not change as well as the requested changes due to the life event. E.g: if an employee is enrolled in Anthem PPO 250 for themselves and DP, they can only remove the DP from that plan, not switch to a different plan.

Please note, in the event your relationship status changes, only the establishment of a registered domestic partnership allows for the enrollment of a domestic partner mid-plan year. However, you can add a non-registered domestic partner during open enrollment or if they have a loss of coverage event.

If you have removed your DP and still see taxes for your dependent’s health insurance, this may be due to a timing discrepancy. The charges will be removed going forward and the extra charges will be refunded on your next paycheck.

If you have any questions, please contact [email].

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