COCONTINUING the other SPOUSES HEALTH BENEFITS

[username]

Spouse A has a great HEALTH BENEFIT PLAN thru employer x over 10yrs.
How can the other spouse , B , whose health is poor , continue to benefit . Does B have any rights in it like equalization of pension etc ?
How should it be addressed...... written in separation agreement , and secure continuity. A wil most likely retire in current employment , Federal Govt. for approx 10 to15 years ? What about after A retires ? Thanks

[HammerDad]

First, you'd have to even see if Spouse A's provider will cover individuals who are not spouses or dependants. If they do, then Spouse B would have to request that they be maintained on Spouse A's benefits. Some do, most don't.

Spouse A, who may not want to continue with the family benefits, would either have to argue they shouldn't be obligated to maintain the former spouse, and if they do, and any extra cost is associated with maintaining the former spouse, the former spouse should bear the burden of the extra costs.

But Spouse B would have to ask the court for an order maintaining them on the policy. Some courts may order, others may not. If they do order it, they may cause B to pay the difference in costs for the extra coverage. But most of the time, divorce is a going forward split with little or no continued attachment. Why should Spouse A be forced to maintain Spouse B when they are no longer spouses? Spouse A maintaining cover solely for the benefit of spouse B past spouse A's retirement is unlikely to happen (and a little unsavoury to me, I mean why can't the person retire just to maintain spouse B).

But it really depends. It has happened. It is just not common.

[mglee]

My ex is a federal Gov employee. They will not cover me, period. I had this confirmed by a close friend who is a director in HR for the federal government. However I think your ex needs to call the carrier to have you removed. At least that's how it went for me.
Not sure if this the case for you, but you should be able to call the carrier yourself to verify. In my case I needed the plan # and birthdate of the employee covered in order to get information from the carrier.