When the marriage ends in divorce, so does the insurance

IRENE CARD AND BETSY CHANDLER

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Last week I received a phone call from a divorced woman who just learned that she has no health insurance and that she will have a waiting period for pre-existing conditions. During our discussion I determined that she should have been offered health insurance benefits under the state's continuation law. When she responded, "My lawyer never told me that," I knew I had to write a column on this subject. Lawyers are experts on the law, not on health insurance. Whether you are the husband or the wife, when you are going through a divorce, you must bring up the subject of health insurance. It is of utmost importance.

You may want to talk with your health insurance agent first. If you work for a very large company, talk with the human resource department. In this particular case, the husband and wife owned a small business and they were each insured under the company small group plan.

Source: http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/healthquest/when-the-marriage-ends-in-divorce-so-does-the-insurance