Divorce and the Affordable Care Act

If you are the spouse covered on your employer’s plan, you won’t lose your health insurance coverage.  You will drop your soon to be ex-spouse when your divorce is finalized with the court since the divorce would be considered a life changing event.

If you have a plan directly from an insurance carrier, you would call them to make necessary changes when your Decree is final.

Since your household size will decrease because of your divorce, your health insurance should cost you less.

If you are the one who will be dropped from your ex-spouse’s employer’s plan after your divorce, you may be eligible for COBRA coverage which can last up to 36 months, but it’s expensive (costing around 102% of the total cost of insurance).

You will probably get a better deal if your employer offers coverage or if you shop for health coverage on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace. You should also know that when you purchase an ACA marketplace plan, you may be eligible for tax credits (also know as premium subsidies) to offset the cost of your premiums.

When you lose coverage because of a divorce, you should be eligible for a special enrollment so you don’t have to wait for the next open enrollment period to get a new plan. You have 30 or 60 days (check with your insurer) from the date the divorce is final to sign up for a new insurance plan. Do your research in advance so that you are not scrambling when you receive your final Decree.