divorce and health insurance nightmare

[Guest eandrew]

my divorce was final in june of 2008. my ex husband did not have me removed from his policy. i called the health plan administrator to see how i could be removed to get a certificate of credible coverage to start coverage with my employer. i was told that only ex husband could remove me during open enrollment and that i could not get certificate of credible coverage until then. i was told i was still covered until he did this. i spoke with my human resource administrator who stated that i could only be enrolled in new plan with certificate of credible coverage and since i was changing from one blue cross plan to another, there should not be a problem.

i reminded ex husband on many occasions to have me removed and spoke with his employers health plan administrator explaining the divorce and i needed certificate of credible coverage to get on my own plan. he did not make changes until may 2009 when he remarried and then i finally got certificate of credible coverage on june 3 2009 effective back to june 2008. i was placed on my emplyers health plan same week. now ex husbands insurance carrier wants him to pay back for claims submitted during that time i was ineligible.

i am so confused because i could not get my own coverage until i was off his policy and i was unable to remove myself from the policy according to his plan administrator stating " only policy holder can have dependent removed and only during open enrollment" which he missed.

his insurance carrier has put a hold on all claims after he did not start making payments. so my four children basically do not have coverage now under that policy . i have added my four children to my employers health care plan which is more expensive and he has a court order to cover the children. ex husband is sueing me for processed claims.

i do not know what to do or what i could have done differently to avoid all of this. i could have been covered immediately if he had removed me. all i needed was the certificate of credible coverage and i could not get that until he had me removed and now he is sueing me for this money. anybody with any ideas or knowledge of this matter, please help.

[Guest SWH]

Wow. What a mess! I'm not sure if I have any knowledge that would be considered official, but I will offer my opinion (and you know what they say about opinions) or at least some ideas about what you can do.

First, I am assuming that he is not bringing this claim in small claims court, that he has hired an attorney and you have been served. Or is he just at the threatening stage still?

If he has a lawyer, then you need to get one too. If you have any backup, start getting it together. Letters, e-mails, applications, etc. Anything to show that you contacted all parties involved and tried to get this resolved. Any thing that you have from BC where they would not accept your application, etc.

Couple of questions? What did BC do with the additional premiums that he was paying to cover you? Or was it just a fixed family premium and you were covered?

You may just want to pay an attorney to sit down for a consult (without an all out hiring) on where they think that you stand legally based on the information that you can gather. If nothing else, maybe this would help give you peace of mind.

[Guest eandrew]

Wow. What a mess! I'm not sure if I have any knowledge that would be considered official, but I will offer my opinion (and you know what they say about opinions) or at least some ideas about what you can do.

First, I am assuming that he is not bringing this claim in small claims court, that he has hired an attorney and you have been served. Or is he just at the threatening stage still?

If he has a lawyer, then you need to get one too. If you have any backup, start getting it together. Letters, e-mails, applications, etc. Anything to show that you contacted all parties involved and tried to get this resolved. Any thing that you have from BC where they would not accept your application, etc.

Couple of questions? What did BC do with the additional premiums that he was paying to cover you? Or was it just a fixed family premium and you were covered?

You may just want to pay an attorney to sit down for a consult (without an all out hiring) on where they think that you stand legally based on the information that you can gather. If nothing else, maybe this would help give you peace of mind.

[Guest eandrew]

Wow. What a mess! I'm not sure if I have any knowledge that would be considered official, but I will offer my opinion (and you know what they say about opinions) or at least some ideas about what you can do.

First, I am assuming that he is not bringing this claim in small claims court, that he has hired an attorney and you have been served. Or is he just at the threatening stage still?

If he has a lawyer, then you need to get one too. If you have any backup, start getting it together. Letters, e-mails, applications, etc. Anything to show that you contacted all parties involved and tried to get this resolved. Any thing that you have from BC where they would not accept your application, etc.

Couple of questions? What did BC do with the additional premiums that he was paying to cover you? Or was it just a fixed family premium and you were covered?

You may just want to pay an attorney to sit down for a consult (without an all out hiring) on where they think that you stand legally based on the information that you can gather. If nothing else, maybe this would help give you peace of mind.

thank you for your response. i am so befuzzled by the whole situation. he served me with papers day before court hearing regarding arrears of child support that i had filed. the judge stated she would not hear the matter at that time that it was not in her jurisdisdiction and he would have to refile and pay another filing fee. he will not drop it. as far as the premiums, he did not pay any extra. i have tried to get phone records from pee hip regarding our conversations early on during divorce and afterwards when i was told i was covered until he dropped me and i could not drop my self. now they are saying they would not have said that and they do not have phone records. i could just kick myself for not getting names because i had several discussions. i also discussed with my human resource advisor who stated she would write a letter on my behalf of why i could not get on my employers plan until i got letter of certificate of coverage. i asked someone at pee hip today would i be liable for this and she would not give me an answer. she told me to speak with an attorney. i added my chldren to my individual plan which was about twenty six dollars a month and increased to one hundred and sixty per month. the pee hip people could not tell me if my children would be covered now if he has started making payments. so i have no way of finding out. he will not tell me. he was very abusive and is vindictive now. i am so worried of what to do and if i should try to pay it to avoid going back to court. my attorney thinks that i have done everything that i could do. i have been very amazed at how the court system has handled things at times that seem so unfair. at last court hearing he was behind over 8,000 dollars for his half of medical co pays and child care expenses. bills were all delivered to him by certified mail except a few that i placed directly in his hand when he did not drive away before i could give them to him. nothing was in order about having them delivered certified mail, but i thought i would be on safe side. the judge made him pay only 2, 400 of that 8,000 stating i did not discuss one childs braces with him and so he did not have to pay. i absolutely did discuss it but of course he denied it. i do not know why she gives him this leniancy with her stating in divorce decree that he would not have custody of children due to pornography addiction, emotional instability and anger issues which resulted in dhr involvement and one child suffering a head trauma resulting in permanent disability. i am so fed up and tired. i want to resolve thisl. i am going to talk with my human resourse administrator again and ask if any possible way i could pay back premiums and have coverage retroactive. it is such a mess and i am trying to get our feet on the ground. i have such great kids and want to be financially stable for them. all of this could have been avoided and i could have had coverage through my employer the entire time. i did not mean to get off on rant, it has all built up and so hard to explain with it being such a mess and confusing. thank you for listening. i feel better just getting it out and knowing someone out there not even knowing me is willing to take the time to offer opinions and ideas. god bless and if you think of anything else, please share.

[Guest eandrew]

thank you for your response. i am so befuzzled by the whole situation. he served me with papers day before court hearing regarding arrears of child support that i had filed. the judge stated she would not hear the matter at that time that it was not in her jurisdisdiction and he would have to refile and pay another filing fee. he will not drop it. as far as the premiums, he did not pay any extra. i have tried to get phone records from pee hip regarding our conversations early on during divorce and afterwards when i was told i was covered until he dropped me and i could not drop my self. now they are saying they would not have said that and they do not have phone records. i could just kick myself for not getting names because i had several discussions. i also discussed with my human resource advisor who stated she would write a letter on my behalf of why i could not get on my employers plan until i got letter of certificate of coverage. i asked someone at pee hip today would i be liable for this and she would not give me an answer. she told me to speak with an attorney. i added my chldren to my individual plan which was about twenty six dollars a month and increased to one hundred and sixty per month. the pee hip people could not tell me if my children would be covered now if he has started making payments. so i have no way of finding out. he will not tell me. he was very abusive and is vindictive now. i am so worried of what to do and if i should try to pay it to avoid going back to court. my attorney thinks that i have done everything that i could do. i have been very amazed at how the court system has handled things at times that seem so unfair. at last court hearing he was behind over 8,000 dollars for his half of medical co pays and child care expenses. bills were all delivered to him by certified mail except a few that i placed directly in his hand when he did not drive away before i could give them to him. nothing was in order about having them delivered certified mail, but i thought i would be on safe side. the judge made him pay only 2, 400 of that 8,000 stating i did not discuss one childs braces with him and so he did not have to pay. i absolutely did discuss it but of course he denied it. i do not know why she gives him this leniancy with her stating in divorce decree that he would not have custody of children due to pornography addiction, emotional instability and anger issues which resulted in dhr involvement and one child suffering a head trauma resulting in permanent disability. i am so fed up and tired. i want to resolve thisl. i am going to talk with my human resourse administrator again and ask if any possible way i could pay back premiums and have coverage retroactive. it is such a mess and i am trying to get our feet on the ground. i have such great kids and want to be financially stable for them. all of this could have been avoided and i could have had coverage through my employer the entire time. i did not mean to get off on rant, it has all built up and so hard to explain with it being such a mess and confusing. thank you for listening. i feel better just getting it out and knowing someone out there not even knowing me is willing to take the time to offer opinions and ideas. god bless and if you think of anything else, please share.

[GMK]

You may just want to pay an attorney to sit down for a consult (without an all out hiring) on where they think that you stand legally based on the information that you can gather.

I am no expert in any of this, but SWH's suggestion to have a consulting session with an attorney makes a lot of sense. I know people who have done this. They say it was worth it, because it gave them a clearer picture of their options, rights, etc. and of what they needed to focus on.

Hang in there, and continue to take the lead on protecting yourself.

Good luck.

[GBurns]

As sugggested by others, you need to sit down, at least for an initial consult, with an experienced divorce and famly law lawyer. Maybe more than one, so that you get more than one opinion regarding your options. In many cases the initiall consultation is no charge.

[Guest eandrew]

You may just want to pay an attorney to sit down for a consult (without an all out hiring) on where they think that you stand legally based on the information that you can gather.

I am no expert in any of this, but SWH's suggestion to have a consulting session with an attorney makes a lot of sense. I know people who have done this. They say it was worth it, because it gave them a clearer picture of their options, rights, etc. and of what they needed to focus on.

Hang in there, and continue to take the lead on protecting yourself.

Good luck.

[Guest eandrew]

You may just want to pay an attorney to sit down for a consult (without an all out hiring) on where they think that you stand legally based on the information that you can gather.

I am no expert in any of this, but SWH's suggestion to have a consulting session with an attorney makes a lot of sense. I know people who have done this. They say it was worth it, because it gave them a clearer picture of their options, rights, etc. and of what they needed to focus on.

Hang in there, and continue to take the lead on protecting yourself.

Good luck.

i believe i have a very good attorney who seems to think i have covered all of my basis. i asked my ex husbands insurance company if i would be held liable for the charges and they would not give me an answer. i have not spoken to my attorney since all of this transpired. he has not returned calls and i am considering consulting with another attorney because when attorney thought everything was fine for me was over two months ago when my ex husbands attorney had still not signed most recent order from judgement awarded in last court session. my attorney said the judge was breathing down his neck to get the order she had written signed. my attorney took the order back to the judge without the other attorneys signature and he has not informed me of outcome. i believe my ex husbands attorney not signing the order has somehting to do with this insurance thing. i have become anxious not knowing and wondering what i can do. i do think i will consult with another attorney for second opinion and hopefully my own attorney will get back with me. thanks so much.

[Guest sniffles]

Hi,

Just read your post-- I'm confused as to why your Employer would not let you join their health plan when your divorce was final? You should have been allowed to go onto your Employer's plan within 30 days of your divorce whether you had a Certificate of Creditable coverage or not -- just provide a copy of the final divorce papers -- a qualifying event. All the Certificate of Creditable coverage does is shows that you had other health insurance from one date to another and allows you to maybe lower your Pre-Existing Condition time period. The worse that would have happended is if you had any pre-existing condition it would not be covered until a certain date but you would still have insurance for anything other than that.

Anyway, if your Employer does not allow you to go on their plan when the divorce was final "until you gave them your certificate of creditable coverage" and he wouldn't change his insurance to allow that to happen, then as the employer I would hold the Employee responsible for any claims paid in error.

I've never heard of a company that MADE you provide the Certificate of Creditable Coverage BEFORE you could be covered under their plan.