The Divorce Resource Centre of Colorado assists with parenting plans, division of property, financial analysis AND a topic important to all Americans, especially those over 40 - Can you keep your health insurance after divorce?
The uncertainty of healthcare coverage post divorce is an especially worrisome topic for spouses who are stay at home parents or self-employed. Consider that as of 2015, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly a quarter of women in the United States under age 64 received health coverage through their spouse's employer-sponsored plan.
Thanks to COBRA, even after a divorce or separation, the uninsured party can keep their health insurance from their ex-spouse’s company if it has at least 20 employees, for up to three years after a divorce. Employees should verify this with their employer/plan administrator in writing or an email.
If your soon to be ex-spouse’s Colorado employer has less than 20 employees, you may still be able to enroll in mini COBRA. Like federal COBRA, it is also very expensive for most people because you must pay the entire premium on your own, but your health insurance plan remains exactly the same. Click here for more info on mini COBRA.
Beyond COBRA, we recommend that the uninsured party obtain their own health insurance as soon as possible.
Your options include: Signing up for coverage through your employer if it’s offered. You can sign up outside the regular open enrollment period if you’ve lost coverage from another source, or have experienced a ‘life event’ like divorce.
Your other option is to purchase a policy directly from a health insurance company or your state’s health insurance marketplace. In Colorado go here.
If you are worried that a soon-to-be-former spouse will cancel your health insurance during the divorce, Colorado law has you covered.
Colorado Revised Statutes 14-10-107 (4)(b)(I)(D) forbids the cancellation of health insurance that provides coverage for spouses and dependent children. Additionally, spouses cannot allow the insurance to lapse by not paying the premiums.
The only way a spouse can change or cancel health insurance coverage during a divorce is if both parties are given at least 14 days of advance notice and both agree to the change in writing.
To better understand your options for post divorce health coverage, schedule a time to speak with one of the experienced team members at the Divorce Resource Centre of Colorado. Your pathway to certainty becomes clearer with your first 20 minute complimentary phone call.
