Yuma: How Divorce Might Impact Your Health Care Coverage

Divorce is a highly emotional decision, but it is also a practical and legal decision that can impact various aspects of your life—from your bank accounts to your health care coverage. If you rely on your spouse’s health insurance for you and your children’s coverage, divorce could bring some major changes to your coverage. What options and rights do you have when getting divorced, and how might your divorce impact your access to health care coverage? Every divorce situation is unique. Some divorcing individuals may already have their own coverage through their employer. Others may have access to health care coverage through Medicaid or Medicare. Yet, others may qualify for other plan options like COBRA, the health insurance marketplace, or other plans. If you are getting divorced and have questions about how your divorce might impact your access to health insurance coverage, consider speaking to Schneider & Onofry, P.C., divorce lawyers in Yuma, Arizona. Our firm can look at the bigger picture, help you understand your options, and help you work out an option in your divorce settlement that can work for you and your family. 

Your Divorce Settlement in Yuma, Arizona and Health Care Coverage

Whether you’ll need to include provisions for health care coverage in your divorce settlement will depend on many factors. These factors include your needs, your children’s health care needs, your financial resources, and the types of health insurance each partner in the marriage can access before and after the marriage. For example, if you can independently access health insurance coverage through your job or through Medicaid or Medicare, you may not need to include health care coverage in your divorce settlement. But, if you and your children rely on a spouse’s workplace health insurance coverage, or receive coverage through a plan your spouse has purchased, then you may need to consider how your divorce could impact your health care coverage and whether you need to include health care coverage in your divorce settlement. Sometimes a spouse might continue to pay for his or her former partner’s coverage as well as coverage for the children. However, this can sometimes come at an additional cost, so these implications might be considered when looking at various aspects of a divorce settlement that might include issues like child support, alimony, and division of other assets and bank accounts.

Another option you may be able to take advantage of is COBRA. If your former partner receives health insurance through work, and if you qualify, you may be able to continue to pay independently for your former partner’s health insurance coverage through COBRA for 36 months after you get divorced. However, you can only use this option if you qualify, and you may only have a limited amount of time to sign up for COBRA after your divorce. Furthermore, COBRA can be costly because it won’t be subsidized by your partner’s employer. Because of these factors, these costs are often considered when drafting a divorce settlement, especially if one partner stayed home as the children’s primary caretaker. 

You and your children may also have other options for coverage. Some individuals might qualify for Medicaid or Medicare, depending on their financial situation, age, and disability status. Others might qualify for health insurance through their workplace. Yet other individuals may qualify for health insurance coverage through the health insurance marketplace. 

Health insurance can be a costly expense for any family. Because divorce can potentially impact you and your family’s access to health insurance coverage, it is important to plan ahead when getting divorced. If you have special health needs or if your children have special health insurance needs, planning ahead might be even more crucial. Schneider & Onofry, P.C. are divorce attorneys in Yuma, Arizona who work closely with families who may have questions about how divorce might impact their financial lives and beyond. 

Concerned that Divorce Will Impact Your Health Insurance Coverage in Yuma, Arizona?

Whether divorce will impact your health insurance coverage will depend on a range of factors. If you think you might lose health insurance because of your divorce, it is important to start looking for new coverage sooner rather than later. Why? Getting on a new plan can take time and you may not want to have any lapses in coverage. When couples share a health insurance plan and then get divorced, this might be a factor that might need to be considered when looking at the total picture of the divorce settlement. For example, for some, the value of staying on a health insurance plan that their spouse has might be enough to warrant negotiations when it comes to other aspects of a divorce settlement—like alimony or division of certain assets and property. 

Have questions about how your divorce can affect you practically and financially? Reach out to Schneider & Onofry, P.C., a divorce lawyer in Yuma, Arizona. Our attorneys can help you navigate various aspects of the divorce process. Or, connect with USAttorneys.com to get matched with one of the lawyers at Schneider & Onofry, P.C. today.