Kids and Health Care: Changing Families Instead of Jobs
When it comes to your children's health coverage, there are many similarities between changing jobs and changing spouses. In fact, the various U.S. benefits laws apply many of the same programs to people changing jobs and families split by divorce.
If you and your children are on a group health plan through your spouse's job and you get divorced, you and your children might be eligible for COBRA coverage, allowing you to keep the same exact health benefits for as long as 36 months.
A better strategy might be for you to take COBRA and keep the children on your ex-spouse's plan. This approach will work, as long as you and the children stay in the health plan's service area and you can afford the premiums. It's a concrete reason for staying in the same area...and maintaining cordial relations with your ex -- for the kids' sake.
If you move, the chances are greater that you'll be out of the service area of your spouse's plan -- especially, if it's a managed care plan. In this case, you'll need to pay attention to the shopping protections offered by COBRA and HIPAA for people moving between jobs.
And, if your kids split time between you and your ex-spouse, you should look for a managed care plan that offers national coverage. For example, Blue Cross has an HMO plan called "Away From Home Care" that offers coverage nationwide. If your child is enrolled in that HMO, the child is covered even if you and your ex-spouse live in different states. Unfortunately, these plans aren't sold in every state.
Otherwise, an individual indemnity policy for each child might be the best solution. With an indemnity policy, your kids can see virtually any doctor -- no matter where they're staying when they're injured or ill. But these policies are expensive and difficult.
In most states, individual health plans (that aren't part of state-sponsored insurance pools) can turn down your child due to medical conditions, such as asthma or a history of ear infections. The plans can also accept your child but refuse to cover certain existing medical problems, which means you'll have to pay for a lot of things out-of-pocket And the plans often exclude coverage for wellness or preventive care -- important matters for kids.
If money is a problem, you can apply for state-sponsored children's health coverage -- which we considered in detail in a previous chapter.
