The Employee Married to Employee (EME) program pays 100% of the health plan rate for full-time County of Orange employees who are legally married to each other and enrolled in the same County health plan. Under the EME program, one spouse enrolls as the subscriber and the other spouse (along with any eligible children) enrolls as a dependent. In this case, the subscriber spouse is not required to pay dependent health plan rates.
Enrolling as EME is required for full-time employees that are married to each other and enrolled in the same health plan. It does not apply to those enrolled in different County health plans.
When a full-time County employee newly marries another full-time County employee during the year (a qualified status change event), the employees may enroll as EME. The EME enrollment form must be obtained from the Benefits Center and submitted within 30 days of the marriage along with a copy of the marriage certificate.
If the employment status changes for one of the spouses (i.e., changes to part-time, unpaid leave of absence), the married couple is no longer eligible for the EME program. Contact the Benefits Center to disenroll and receive additional options.
If you are no longer eligible for the EME program (e.g., divorce) and notification is not provided to the Benefits Center within 30 calendar days of the event, you may be financially responsible for the County portion of rates paid retroactive to the month in which you became ineligible for EME status.
