Health Insurance and Divorce
Going through a divorce is a difficult time in and of itself. However, throw in the issue of health insurance coverage and trying to continue such a policy and the difficulties may seem to magnify in nature. For those who are going through a divorce, you may be worried about how this will affect your health insurance coverage and be interested in learning more about how to maintain your current health insurance coverage or obtain new coverage at a reasonable rate. The following will provide some information relating to this life occurrence and detail options which you may have available to you if you happen to be in this situation.
How Does Divorce Affect Health Insurance?
The result of the divorce on your health insurance will depend on what type of insurance you have. If you have individual health insurance or group insurance through your employer, the divorce will have no effect on the health insurance policy with regard to your coverage. However, if you are covered by your spouse's group health insurance policy, your coverage will terminate once the divorce is final and you are no longer considered to be a family member.
Post-Divorce Health Insurance Options
If you find yourself previously covered on your spouse's health insurance policy and determine that this will end once the divorce is final, there are a few options which can be pursued in order to obtain adequate health insurance coverage once your prior policy coverage lapses.
COBRA
The first option is to obtain COBRA coverage. COBRA is a federal law dictating that one who has been previously covered by an insurance policy and for one reason or another, such as divorce, that policy ends, the individual will have the opportunity to continue that coverage while paying a premium for doing so. This is a great option as it allows you to continue your current coverage with a particular insurance company, not have to complete a multitude of forms and physical exams and simply pay a premium for staying with the same company. It is important to note that certain time periods may exist with regard to how long you can maintain that specific health insurance coverage.
A New Health Plan
Should you not wish to stay with the same insurance company and/or COBRA not be an available resource for you to use, there is always the option of acquiring a brand new health insurance policy with a new company. This is beneficial in some ways such as allowing you to start fresh with a new, perhaps better insurer. However, it may have certain restrictions which go along with it as well as one will have to fill out paperwork, undergo physical exams and perhaps not have pre-existing conditions covered for a year or more. Although, in the end, it is certainly worth looking into a new policy as one which may be a bit tedious to acquire is still better than having none at all.
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