Child Custody And Divorce: Free Legal Advice
Child Custody And Divorce: Free Legal Advice
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One of the principal concerns, these days, is with extending health care coverage, for obvious reasons: it's necessary, and it's expensive. In the old days it was the women who wanted it, but now it's just as likely to be the men who recognize (rightly) that they are about to become separated from group health care coverage by virtue of the divorce from their spouse. "But he (or she) get's free health care from General Motors, what will I do for health insurance once we're divorced?"
The problem has been halfway solved by the government, in 1985, in one of the few things that Congress actually did right: it's called the COBRA law, and you'll be hearing a lot of references to COBRA COVERAGE during the divorce negotiations. If you don't, then bring it up yourself: you need to know about this.
In 1985, Congress passed the COBRA (an acronym for "Comprehensive Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) law, which probably raised taxes, passed out favors, and all the usual things, but, buried down around paragraph six hundred and twenty was a very useful part of the law. That paragraph provided that if you get separated from your health care insurance group, such as Blue Cross-Blue Shield, because of certain listed factors (divorce, death, downsizing of work force or layoff), you get to CONTINUE your insurance coverage, with the same group, at the same cost (or insurance premium) as before. It's the part about COST, OR INSURANCE PREMIUM, that is the important part, and here's why:
You can call up Blue Cross-Blue Shield (or any of the HMO's in your community) and sign on for Master Medical Coverage (that's the deluxe one) this very day. Go ahead, make the call. That coverage will cost you six hundred bucks a month, and maybe more. That's because you are an individual, rather than a group. If you were a group, such as General Motors employees, the rate is FAR CHEAPER. General Motors, because they get a quantity discount (1.43 million employees, approximately) gets the same Master Medical for only two hundred dollars a month. It pays to buy in bulk, doesn't it?
Prior to COBRA, if your spouse was a GM employee, you had great coverage. If your spouse died, however, you were out of the group. You could get Master Medical, all right, but it was at that six hundred dollar figure, since you aren't a member of a group anymore. Same with a divorce: after the divorce, you're not a member of the group (your spouse is still a GM employee, but you aren't in her 'family' any more), and so your health insurance premium would be at the higher, individual rate, rather than the great rate that GM pays.
That's what the law addressed. The COBRA law says, in essence, "if a person is separated from a group because of death, divorce, or layoff, that person gets to stay in the group, or receive identical coverage AT THE SAME COST THE GROUP PAYS, for a period of eighteen months or thirty six months, depending". Some situations get you an extension of eighteen months, other situations get you the full three year extension. Please note that this is AT YOUR COST, NOT THE COMPANY'S COST, and you have to mail in the premium. But it's a pretty small premium, isn't it? You're at the LOW figure, same as General Motors, for up to three years, which gives you a lot of time to get yourself organized, maybe even into another group ("You work for FORD? Wanna get married?).
The personnel or insurance office of the employer will have standard forms for the extension, and everyone there will know what you're talking about if you call and ask about COBRA COVERAGE, or a COBRA EXTENSION. You need to make the phone call, and get the forms.
Then, you can do the usual negotiations in settling the case: "Will you pay me less alimony, but pay for my COBRA COVERAGE for three years?" And the other party just might, since it's not a fortune anymore. It's not cheap, to be sure, but the disaster of former years has been cured, to some extent.
If you want to see the specific requirements of the law (some legalese, but these guys make a good, understandable presentation), as it applies to a business (Dear Client: as your accountant/tax advisor, you MUST DO the following....")Click Here.
Other than that, you now know how to extend your health insurance coverage.
Good luck with it.