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Maintaining Insurance Coverage Between Jobs

3 Responses to “Maintaining Insurance Coverage Between Jobs”

1. mechanic_1@sbcglobal.net says:

   February 21, 2010 at 10:10 pm

   Maintaining health insurance on your child that lives with his mother…?
   I divorced my ex back in 2001 when my son was just an infant. The court order said that I was responsible for travel costs and insurance as long as it was available through my employer and at a reasonable cost. (They will not take over 55% of my disposable earnings) I have always been faithful with support and insurance. A year after the modification she met someone and moved to another state without my or the courts permission.(This was a stipulation to our order) She knew I didnt have the money to fight it so we agreed to share travel expenses on visits.

   About a year after this, my wifes family had a death and we moved acrossed the country to help her family. I moved here with a job in place. I was told there were benefits, ect. After I reached the point of being able to sign up, I learned that they were $600 a month and I had already taken a dramatic cut in pay, so this was truly unaffordable. I explained to my ex that I was not able to carry insurance at the present time. I told her that I would gladly share in cost of the doctors until I could either get a private policy or my company changes their policy(which they said was going to happen soon.) She told me she understood and said update her when something changed.

   So when I call her today(3 weeks later) to let her know that I have signed up for the new insurance that was offered, she informs me that she put our son on her new husbands insurance policy just last week. She didnt want to talk to me about this and decided to stick her husband on the phone. He insisted it was pointless for me to have a policy on him because his policy for my son covers everything and he would not need a secondary insurance. He then suggests that since he is paying insurance on my son I should be willing to cover the travel expenses both ways. Which Im not an unreasonable man, but I already have coverage on him….

   I contacted Idaho Child Support and they said that I am still legally responsible to hold insurance on my son, regardless of any other existing policies, because the court order specifically says that I am responsible. If I do not initiate it, child support will enforce. Second, there is ABSOLUTELY NO trust between us and if I did agree to this whose to say she wouldnt try to go back and file a suit privately to seek monies for this insurance policy. Thirdly, I dont feel I should be made to pay twice. I explained to her new husband that I would have to cover him regardless and he still pressed on about the travel expenses. They chose to take this policy out and They know that legally they cannot demand me to pay for half. There was NO communication from her saying if you dont have any prospects, this is what Im going to do…ect.

   Im afraid that if I dont "comply" with them she will not allow me to see my son. Meaning, she will not send him on the plane for our visits. She uses our son as a pawn in every situation where there is a disagreement. Just last Spring Break she waited until the last minute to purchase his ticket to come here. It was going to cost her nearly $700 to send him and she told me that the only way she would send him is if will purchase a roundtrip ticket for the next visit. He was due to come here in a week….what was I suppose to do. I had to say yes. If I dont comply, she suddenly doesnt have the money.

   Any comments would be appreciated…but again, I AM NOT A DEAD BEAT DAD. I pay for my child support faithfully, I contact him regularly, and up until recently I have never not had insurance coverage and he is 9 years old.

   What would you do?
   I agree with you but we live states away from each other and a plane ride is necessary…. I dont care if he has dual coverage. I think that is excellent. I just dont think I should be responsible for both.
   The new husband is saying that its pointless for me to have coverage because his insurance pays for everything and the dr offices will never have to use mine. But I think he realizes they made a hasty decision and now wants me to pay for it.
   Redbird–Unnecessary comment!! She never informed me of a policy until AFTER I signed him up for one. Second, I am very close to my inlaws and my mother in law did not have enough money to support herself. Thirdly, I have already relocated once to live near him. She moved AGAIN!! She is a control freak. You shouldnt assume that every man is the same when it comes to their children. I am VERY involved in my childs life. To suggest otherwise would be ignorance….but you already know that dont you……
2. heavensent41770 says:

   February 22, 2010 at 3:12 am

   So.. let them have insurance on him also. Thats just less you both have to pay for that insurance doesnt cover. Also, if she wants to be a b*tch about things, you can always get her for taking your child outta state to begin with. If she with holds your child from you, you have to file a motion to hold her in contemp of court. Shes ordered to let you see your son so, you make arrangements to pick him up and she can arrange to go get him when the visit is done. If she cant afford it, he stays with you, if you cant afford the trip, then he stays with mom….. I hate moms who do this crap!!!!
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3. redbird says:

   February 22, 2010 at 3:14 am

   If it were me, I would have gone to court for resolution of the out of state thing since she did it without sanction from the court. That being said, instead of moving to BFE to "help" my wife’s family I would have been looking for a job close to my child. I cannot think of a single instance in which the death of a single family member would necessitate your moving to "help" the remaining whole family. Do you have to support them? Why don’t you man up and help YOUR family, that being your son. Isn’t he more important than some people that you probably never met or at best only knew slightly? Also, about the insurance. Are you sure that you have to have him on YOUR POLICY? Why not just pay (by check) the difference on that other policy? Then you fulfill your obligation the same as if you were paying on a private policy. Glad that you are not a dead beat, but if you were fully involved, you would be close to your kiddo. Children need more than a few phone calls and a visit once or twice a year. But then, you already know that, don’t you?
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