Will You Lose Your Health Insurance After Divorce?
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Getting a divorce can be an emotionally draining and perplexing experience for most people. As you go through this process, there are numerous things that you will need to think about, such as the division of your assets, obligations, custody, and spousal and child support. When two people get married, they often only have insurance through one of their employers. Consider the implications of a divorce in Michigan. Should one of the parties be left without health insurance after divorce?
COBRA and its Significance to Insurance
Most of the time, only one of the spouses has health insurance through their employment for the whole family. That gives coverage to the other spouse and also any children. Divorce changes this, as no insurance provider in Michigan is willing to continue covering divorced spouses. And this is where the COBRA federal law comes into play.
Through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), spouses can continue getting insurance coverage from their former spouse’s employer. People who wish to keep their healthcare coverage must, however, go through a lengthy process. Although it’s common to use COBRA to keep this coverage in place, you must be aware that if you wish to keep it, you will be liable for the entire cost of your plan.
Keeping Your Health Insurance After Through COBRA
Remember that COBRA will only apply if the former employer’s group health insurance plan had at least 20 employees in the year preceding the divorce. If the company had enough employees, they must give you documents to maintain insurance coverage within 14 days after the divorce. After that, you’ll have 45 days to decide whether or not you want to keep your current insurance coverage.
Your health insurance will end after 45 days if you don’t do anything. As a former spouse, you have 60 days to notify the insurance provider that you would like to maintain your health insurance with them, or you risk losing your right to health coverage through your former spouse’s company.
While you can continue getting your insurance coverage through your former spouse’s employer, you must understand that you can’t keep that forever. Using COBRA to keep your insurance after a divorce will extend it for at least 36 months, but it could end sooner if:
- you don’t pay the insurance premium,
- group insurance is no longer offered by the employer,
- if the business closes down,
- you receive coverage through another group plan that does not impose pre-existing condition limitations, or
- you qualify for Medicare.
Concerned About What Will Happen To Your Health Insurance After Divorce?
Our divorce lawyers at Goldman and Associates have decades of combined experience in the practice of family law. We can assist you with keeping your health insurance after divorce or acquiring new health care coverage. Make an appointment or contact us today for a free consultation!