Health Insurance

Although health insurance has become a political time bomb, with sides lining up as the debate for national health insurance rages on, divorcing individuals have long listed the provisions of comprehensive health insurance as a major priority. Here, Massachusetts provides many people with a distinct advantage over the rest of the nation. As long as you or your spouse do not work for a company that self-funds its health insurance, former spouses can continue to be covered under their ex-spouse’s medical and dental insurance policies provided provisions are included in your agreement for the continuation of insurance.

At the Centre for Mediation & Dispute Resolution, we believe that provisions for health insurance need to be addressed in the structuring of your agreement. Couples need to consider:

• Can former spouses receive continued health insurance?
• Is there an additional cost for continued coverage?
• What is the cost to the family and how will it be paid?
• What events would change “access” in the future?
• What if a spouse needs to acquire new coverage?
• How will uninsured costs be handled?
• Should future changes be built in to your agreement?

Access to health insurance and payment for your coverage are two separate issues, both requiring investigation of options and consideration of an agreement that protects the health of all family members.