The LAwell Program provides benefits to eligible employees and their eligible dependents. The City will now periodically audit all dependent records to ensure they meet LAwell Program eligibility rules. A dependent may lose eligibility due to events such as divorce, termination of a domestic partnership, reaching the age limit of 26 for child dependents, or other changes.

The City has contracted with Secova,Inc. (Secova) to conduct the audit. Once the Dependent Eligibility Verification audit begins, you may be required to provide documents proving that each dependent covered under your benefits meets the LAwell eligibility rules. Common examples include: Marriage certificate for a spouse OR Birth certificate for children.

Details and instructions will be provided in early June by Secova. If any of your dependents are found to be ineligible, their coverage will be terminated, and you may be required to repay the cost of their premiums for the time they were deemed to be ineligible.

Keeping ineligible dependents in your coverage is a violation of LAwell Program rules and abuse of public funds. Removing ineligible individuals helps the City control costs and maintain compliance with LAwell Program rules.

When you add a dependent to your LAwell coverage, you are attesting that the dependent meets the Program’s eligibility criteria. You must also provide supporting documentation at the time of enrollment. If a dependent subsequently becomes ineligible (e.g., divorce) and you fail to remove them from LAwell coverage, you may be required to repay the cost of the premiums for the period the dependent was ineligible.

During the 2026 Open Enrollment period (October 1–31, 2025), employees had the opportunity to remove any ineligible dependents from your coverage. If done so at that time, no penalties will apply. If the audit identifies that an ineligible dependent still exists in your covered benefits, you may be responsible for repaying all premiums associated with that dependent for the period in which the dependent was ineligible and still enrolled into benefits.

Generally, your legal spouse or registered domestic partner, and your children under age 26 (including biological, step, adopted, or foster children) are eligible. Some other dependents may qualify in specific situations. For full rules and required documentation, visit https://www.keepinglawell.com/dependents.

• Copies of documents are completely acceptable.
• Originals are NOT required and should not be submitted.
• Social Security Numbers (SSNs) are not required to add a dependent (including a spouse). A dependent without an SSN is acceptable.

• Issuer Requirements: The document submitted must have a stamp/seal of the governmental agency AND/OR a signature of a governmental representative (such as the County Clerk).
• Age Limit: All children added as dependents must be under age 26.
• Name Matching: Verify that the last and first name of both the employee and the child match.
• Stepchildren: For a stepchild, the first and last name of the parent on the birth certificate must match the name of the employee's spouse.
• Resolving Discrepancies: If a name is only a close match, the document can be approved if an additional piece of information (like the employee's date of birth) can be verified. If the name does not closely resemble the record, additional outreach will be required to obtain supporting identification (e.g., a driver's license).

• Issuer Requirements: The document must be a marriage certificate issued by a governmental agency (City, County, or State). Marriage licenses or certificates issued by a church/chapel are NOT acceptable.
• Verification Marks: The certificate must have a stamp/seal of the governmental agency AND/OR a signature of a governmental representative.
• Name Matching & Maiden Names: The first and last name of the employee and spouse must match. If a spouse kept their maiden name, this is acceptable provided the employee's date of birth on the certificate can be verified against their file.
• Resolving Discrepancies: Similar to birth certificates, close name matches can be approved if another data point (like a date of birth) is verifiable. Otherwise, supporting documentation will be required.

The following items cannot be processed standardly and must be returned to the City for handling:

• Foreign documents (non-United States).
• Documents submitted after the final deadline.
• Qualified Medical Child Support Order (QMSCO) documents.
• Power of Attorney (POA) documents (the City will verify and notify Secova if approved).
• Any documents that do not conform to these guidelines or appear falsified/fraudulent.