Keeping Your Insurance Coverage After Your Divorce

It goes without saying that your divorce will bring with is several changes. Yet one that many of the clients in Covington that we here at The Berger Firm have worked with in the past have overlooked is healthcare (or more specifically, who will handle the costs of yours and your children’s healthcare once your divorce becomes final). During your marriage, you may have been covered under your spouse’s group health plan. Your divorce will almost certainly affect that coverage; the question is to what extent?

In the case of your kids, the impact will be minimal. Typically, if your ex-spouse is eligible for health insurance through their employer, the court will require that they carry coverage for your kids even after your divorce. Yet what about you? It is expected that you will eventually secure separate coverage (either through remarriage or securing new employment). Yet in the meantime, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act allows you to remain on your ex-spouse’s plan.

information shared by the U.S Department of Labor shows that to qualify for coverage under COBRA, your case must meet the following criteria:

• Your former plan must be covered by COBRA

• You must have experienced a certain life event

• You must be a qualified beneficiary for that event

All plans sponsored by private companies that employ more than 20 people, as well as state and local agencies qualify for continued coverage under COBRA (federal employees are excluded). Divorce is classified as a significant life event by COBRA’s guidelines, and in order to be a qualified beneficiary, you must have been eligible for coverage the day before the event occurred.

You can learn more about planning for your post-divorce life by continuing to explore our site.