Health Insurance

Health insurance is an important issue in divorce cases and needs to be carefully considered.When a Massachusetts divorce court makes an order for alimony, it must determine whether the obligor has health insurance or other health coverage available to him or her through an employer or organization or has it available at a reasonable cost that may be extended to cover the spouse for whom support is ordered. If such coverage is available, the court must include in the support order a requirement that the obligor spouse:

1. exercise the option of additional coverage in favor of the spouse;
2. obtain coverage for the spouse; or
3. reimburse the spouse for the cost of health insurance. In no event shall the order of alimony be reduced because of the obligor's cost for health insurance coverage for the spouse.

Other Massachusetts laws also apply to continuing health insurance coverage in divorce cases for certain periods of time. Generally, a group insurer which is based in Massachusetts or which insures Massachusetts residents must permit the divorced spouse to remain covered in the group plan, without additional cost to the obligor. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, all of which your lawyer can explain, if applicable to your case.

Often the insurance coverage continues for so long as both parties remain unmarried. After that, if the non-obligor spouse wants to continue coverage, he or she may do so by paying the obligor spouse any additional cost. Of course, there may be problems trying to force the insurance carrier to continue the coverage.

Federal Law requires that, in any event, after a divorce, most insurance carriers must permit the non-employee spouse to continue on the group insurance policy for eighteen or thirty-six months. There is usually an extra charge for that coverage, which the non-employee is usually required to pay.

There are special rules that apply to insurance plans which are provided by a government agency, by an employer who is a self-insurer and to certain other employers and plans. Also of concern are changes in available coverage or access to certain doctors which are effected by a change from one insurance company to another, by a change from one HMO to another or by a change in employment. And, there may be difficulties in obtaining health insurance coverage for you or your spouse if one of you is moving to another state.