If you are an employee (or their spouse) who has asked for your spouse to be taken off the health insurance. You are separating but it is not legal yet. The spouse and affected dependents can elect COBRA coverage once the separation is finalized or the experience a loss of coverage in anticipation of divorce.
For the separation of marriage to be recognized as a qualifying event, it must result in a loss of health insurance coverage, which may not occur until the separation is sanctioned by the state. The couple must first receive a judgment of separation from a state court. Living separately does not constitute "Legal Separation" with COBRA rights until your state court declares it. The administrator will terminate dependent coverage depending on the health plan rules.
Some states do not recognize legal separation of spouses. Living separately in those states is not a qualifying event, because such separation generally does not result in a loss of coverage to the employee's dependents.
Employees planning to separate or divorce often terminate dependent coverage before receiving a judgment from the court. COBRA regulations resolve the problem by providing that a qualifying event will occur on the date of the judgment, even though the dependents were not covered at that time.
Craig Casey is an Writer, Coach, Blogger, Husband, and Former Health Insurance Agent helping people on the web since 1999 with their health insurance problems.
blog comments powered by Disqus
