It often is not until after you choose to divorce from your spouse in Indianapolis that you realize how much you actually may have relied on them during your marriage. One area that many often overlook when planning their post-divorce lives is where they will get their health insurance coverage. If you were covered under your ex-spouse’s group health plan during your marriage, how will you be able to handle your medical expenses once your divorce becomes final?
Not to worry; a federal law exists to help ensure that you remain covered until you are able to secure coverage on your own (or by remarrying and becoming eligible for coverage under your new spouse’s plan). Per the U.S. Department of Labor, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act requires that health insurance plans sponsored by private companies (as well as state and local agencies) that employ more than 20 people allow you to remain covered if you experience an life event that affects your affiliation with the sponsoring institution (the end of a marriage is considered to be such an event). All you have to do to be considered a qualified beneficiary of the plan is to have been eligible for coverage on the day prior to your life event occurring (or in this context, the day before your divorce was finalized). Your ex-spouse cannot drop you from their plan until you are officially divorced.
If you are concerned about retaining health insurance coverage for your kids, you typically do not have to worry about that, either. As long as your ex-spouse remains eligible for group health plan coverage through their employer, the court will typically order them to carry insurance for the kids.
