Divorce causes major issues with health insurance benefits. Many families have
employer provided and/or paid for health insurance benefits that cover the
entire family. It is not uncommon to see situations where the other spouse is a
stay at home parent, with absolutely no access to health insurance benefits, or
employed at a job with either no health insurance benefits available or those
benefits available at a substantial cost. After a divorce, the spouse with the
family health insurance coverage can no longer cover the other parent. They are
no longer "family" members who can take advantage of one health insurance
policy. How to then ensure that everyone stays insured does become an issue for
negotiation and/or divorce litigation. If both parties do not have health
insurance benefits available and if the cost of obtaining those health insurance
benefits for the other party after a divorce become prohibitive, there is one
way to continue benefits without additional cost. That way is to enter into a
separation agreement, but delay the divorce. That way, the parties actually do
remain married and they can stay on the same health insurance plan even thought
they are separed. The parties can consent to waiting for one, two or more years
before either one files for a divorce. While the parties will remain married,
their property, custody, and support issues will be addressed in their
separation agreement. Under some circumstances, this is an optimal resolution.
For example, what if both parties want one spouse to remain at home for several
more years with young children, but they do still want to separate and divorce?
This option works for them. They can separate, agree upon getting a divorce and
all of the terms that they have to agree upon, but delay the final divorce so
that they can keep cost effective health insurance benefits in place. The above
example can provide some difficulties that must be discusse in detail with your
divorce attorney. For example, if you separate but do not divorce, your federal
tax filing status may be affected. Also, in some states, it is not as easy as in
other states to enforce a separation agreement. Or, in yet other states, it is
possible for one spouse to take the advantages provided by the agreement for a
year or two and then go to court and seek entirley different forms of financial
relief in a divorce action. Only a divorce attorney licensed to practice in your
state can advise you on these issues. Another option for couples divorce is
COBRA coverage. COBRA is a federal law which mandates that a person covered
under a health insurance policy be given the right to continue that coverage, at
their own cost, for a set time period if certain requirements exist. For
example, if you obtain a divorce and your spouse had family health insurance
coverage through his employer, the employer would have to provide COBRA coverage
for you after the divorce. That COBRA coverage would require that you have the
same health insurance policy, although your coverage would now be individual and
not family. You would have to pay the employer's cost for that individual
policy. It is not uncommon for a stay at home spouse or a spouse who has less
income or employment options to obtain COBRA coverage and to negotiate that
their spouse pay for that coverage for a specified time period after the
divorce. In doing so, this gives the spouse who did not have coverage available
some time to either obtain employment with coverage or become financially
settled and able to afford their own coverage.About the Author: Jean Mahserjian
is an attorney and the author of numerous websites and books devoted to helping
consumers through the process of divorce. To download free excerpts from her
divorce and custody books, visit: http://www.millenniumdivorce.com
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