"Hello," the caller said, "I have sort of an unusual situation."  

"Okay," Rita said.  

"So, I had removed my spouse from coverage last year during open enrollment, and well, now circumstances have changed, and I need to add them back," the caller said.  

"Okay," Rita said.  She had found in tricky situations it was sometimes easier to outline the ways this action would be allowed rather than ask - were you just mad at your spouse?  Because that's not considered a life event by the IRS and other powers that be. "So, there's a couple of situations where a mid-year add of a family member is allowed.  If they lost access to other coverage and if they are a new family member."  

"Oh we've been married three years," the caller said.  "And, well, it's going to sound strange, but basically, I thought they had died.  And it turns out they had not, but they were having some memory problems so it took a while for them to even realize folks were looking for them." 

"Okay," Rita tried to think really quickly.  The thing with life events was that you always needed documentation.  Of something.  "Had you filed a missing persons report for them?"  

"No, because, well, I had thought they were on a plane that crashed.  Well, and they were,  They just survived unbeknownst to any of us."  

"I'm going to do a little more research on this, but, were there any news reports of the crash, anything like that?" Rita asked.  

"Oh maybe.  It was a small plane, but I can look."  

"Okay, and like I said, I'll do a little more research and find out a little more about how to handle this," Rita said. 

"Okay.  Thank you."  

"You're welcome," Rita said.  She made a note on the caller's record and opened up an email to Carla to ask her what they could do.  There definitely wasn't a specific provision for deceased spouse isn't deceased after all in any of the job aids they had. They did occasionally have folks who removed family members during open enrollment and then regretted it later, but this seemed specific enough that they should be able to do something.  Rita just wasn't quite sure what or how.  

She opened the work chat.  

RIta: Sooooooooo, who had spouse back from the dead on their checklist.  

Ben: Zombie spouse?  

Eden:  If I was a zombie I definitely would not be telling everyone that.  

Rita: I have spoken to no one about zombies today.  But Eden really, if you were a zombie we would need to know so we could plan accordingly.  

Ben:  Yeah otherwise we might just foolishly leave our brains hanging out never knowing the danger.  Wait, I think it's bad to leave brains out.  

Rita: Okay whatever.  

Ben: But tell us your story Rita!  

Rita: Dude removed spouse during OE.  

Eden: People get so petty during OE.  

Rita:  Yes, but in his case, apparently spouse got on a plane that went poof.  

Ben:  Why didn't he remove spouse before OE?  

Rita; Oh crud.  I should have asked that.  

Eden:  If there was no body they may not have been able to declare the person dead yet.  On soaps it usually takes like seven years.  

Rita: That would make sense.  

Ben: Not sure soaps are the best barometer of sense. 

Eden: Don't be a hater.  They do bonkers things, but the law stuff is often on point.  

Ben:  Not hating.  Just saying when kidnapping is something you forgive in time for Thanksgiving, not always the best model. 

Ben: So he waited until OE, removed spouse for being dead.  Except spouse is not dead.  I kinda love it.  

Eden: That must be like the best surprise ever!  

Rita:  Yep. I have an email in to Carla to see what we can do. 

Ben: Well, he got his spouse back.  The mundane details must all be worth it. 

Rita: Aw, see, I knew you had a squishy heart in there. 

Eden: Deliciously squishy. 

Ben: Eden, I don't know if I've been clear about this before, none of my organs are available for tasting.  Sorry, not sorry.  Find your own food.  

Eden:  Oh whatever.