Divorced? How your kids get health insurance

Sad little girl listening her parents having an argument in a kiHow do your kids get health insurance after your divorce?

This is a question that every parent asks when going through a divorce.  The answer is it depends. There is no one-size-fits-all answer.

As many of you know, I got divorced when my daughters were 18 months and 3 1/2-years-old. Of course, it was a very frustrating time with many things to worry about. Where will we live? How will I pay the bills? But one of the things I didn’t think about was how my children would continue to have health insurance.

In my case, I was lucky. I worked at a hospital and my employer provided me with health coverage for my children so my girls could continue on my current health plan.

However, if your children are currently covered by their father’s health plan, how will they continue to get their insurance coverage? In most states, the answer will be in your divorce decree. The Judgement of Divorce states who must provide the health insurance for the children and who will pay for any health costs. This includes any deductibles or co-pays. Also, the Divorce Judgement will state how much each spouse will have to pay for any healthcare services that aren’t covered by insurance.

It might be a good idea to request that your spouse pay a certain amount of healthcare costs every month so you do not have to keep fighting over repayment. This is especially true since most doctors will require that any healthcare costs not covered by your insurance plan be paid at the time of the service. It is rare for doctors to agree to bill for those services later.

It is always best to try and come to a reasonable agreement about who will be responsible for the health coverage in advance. It is also important to specify what will happen if the spouse who is currently covering the children’s health insurance loses their job or their health coverage.

Have you had any problems getting your children health coverage after a divorce? How did you resolve it? We’d love to hear from you!

Check out how more information on insurance in our new book, Easy Healthcare: Choose Your Health Insurance.

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