Adding a Dependent to a Family Plan Outside of Open Enrollment?

My spouse recently started a new job with a very prominent hospital this past April. It was assumed by her that medical coverage would not be offered until her probationary period had ended 90 days after her date of hire. She received her paperwork for insurance a couple of weeks after she began working there, and she submitted it as soon as she could. Well within the assumed period, the paperwork was submitted, and she received word from her employer that documentation was needed to prove that she was married, and that her children were indeed hers. Assuming that she was well within the time period to submit this information, she gathered the required documents and submitted them to her employer. A few days before she submitted the paperwork, she received her medical cards in the mail, with a congratulatory letter that welcomed her to the plan. With that, she assumed all was well, and began using the cards for our two children who need monthly regiments of medications for ADHD, and autism related disabilities. Roughly a week after getting the cards in the mail, we received word that our children were not covered because documentation was not received in time to get them on to the plan. This threw us a real curve because our children depend on this medication daily. It is very unclear why getting documentation into an insurance company within a certain time period is so critical to obtain coverage. After all, the employee is paying the required premium for coverage as a deduction from their paycheck. Coverage should begin for EVERYONE when documentation is received. It was never like this in the past. Insurance for your family should not be something only for the privileged to afford and obtain. Healthcare affects EVERYONE. Nothing has changed in the healthcare industry but the greed factor amongst drug companies and insurance companies. Healthcare on the whole is the most irresponsibly run industry in this country, holding millions of people hostage in the wake of corporate greed. If you think that it is ok to endanger people’s lives by over-pricing medications, and other basic healthcare needs simply to make a buck, you are very wrong. In fact, the finger of blame points directly to the healthcare industry as it currently stands for failing to address the staggering mental health crisis in this nation. It is this industry that needs to be held accountable for not properly treating the mentally impaired, and keeping vital medications out of the hands of the ones that desperately need them, simply because it isn’t cost effective to do so. Society is endangered, and people are dying because they can’t afford the necessary medications and treatments prescribed by their doctors. All of this continues to take place while you continue to pat yourselves on the back and lavishly reward yourselves for turning a profit. Do you not see this as unconscionable? How on earth do you live with yourselves?