November 24, 1980
(Opinion issued in letter form; name and address deleted)
Re: Opinion of Trustees
Resolution of Dispute
Case No. 141
This is in response to your request for an opinion from the Trustees of UMWA Health and Retirement Funds concerning the effect of a surviving spouse’s remarriage on the continued eligibility of her children for health benefits under the Employer’s benefit plan.
Article II, Section E of the Employer’s Plan provides that health benefits shall be provided to (i) any unmarried surviving spouse and (ii) such spouse’s unmarried dependent children of an Employee or Pensioner who died. Where, as here, a surviving spouse remarries after a life insurance benefit has been paid, her eligibility for health coverage, as well as the eligibility of her unmarried dependent children, terminates.
Sincerely,
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Harrison Combs, Chairman
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John J. O’Connell, Trustee
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Paul R. Dean, Trustee