Co-workers discussing getting a legal divorce just to qualify for Peach Care

[GaDisneyFreak]

Next year our co-pays are going up to $50 for a dr. visit and $65 for a specialist visit. Some of my co-workers at my job were seriously discussing getting a legal separation/divorce (still staying with their spouse) just to be able to get onto GA Peachcare insurance for their children. I can't say that I don't blame them really. One of them has been married almost 17 years, but fears they won't be able to afford the co-pays. It is a shame that many married people get screwed like this.

 

[OLT2004]

I thought all Health Care would be completely Free next year.
No?

 

[4HppyCamprs]

I'm not sure but my husbands job is talking about raising the payroll deduction to 200.00 and the yearly deductible to 2500.00. Not free at all. I have considered getting "legally" divorced to qualify for entitlement programs. It goes against my morals but it does not pay to be married and middle class at all.

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[nicolita3]

I thought all Health Care would be completely Free next year.
No?

No it wont be

 

[scrapquitler]

I thought all Health Care would be completely Free next year.
No?

what have you been smoking??? FREE?

 

[nicolita3]

I agree it is hard when you have insurance and are still paying such high co pays. I had to have a ct scan and pet scan when I had some enlarged lymph nodes that wouldnt go away with antibiotics and the copays were like $400.

 

[scrapquitler]

I'm not sure but my husbands job is talking about raising the payroll deduction to 200.00 and the yearly deductible to 2500.00. Not free at all. I have considered getting "legally" divorced to qualify for entitlement programs. It goes against my morals but it does not pay to be married and middle class at all.

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My husband and I have had this discussion as well. If we were divorced, the kids and I would qualify for all sorts of financial assistance, tax credits, subsidized insurance, etc.

 

[chris31997]

Next year our co-pays are going up to $50 for a dr. visit and $65 for a specialist visit. Some of my co-workers at my job were seriously discussing getting a legal separation/divorce (still staying with their spouse) just to be able to get onto GA Peachcare insurance for their children. I can't say that I don't blame them really. One of them has been married almost 17 years, but fears they won't be able to afford the co-pays. It is a shame that many married people get screwed like this.

I'm not sure but my husbands job is talking about raising the payroll deduction to 200.00 and the yearly deductible to 2500.00. Not free at all. I have considered getting "legally" divorced to qualify for entitlement programs. It goes against my morals but it does not pay to be married and middle class at all.

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This could fall under fraud. Not saying the rise in premiums and co-pays won't be painful or cause a cut somewhere else, but it kinda sounds like getting married for a green card or in the military for benefits/less duty or when military marry someone from a foreign country.

Unfortunately, I think there is going to be more squeezing of everyone because this country is in a financial mess.


Growing up we were to poor to make it but too rich to get help. Some how we made it. My mom went without. Now, we teach our kids the difference between needs/wants and how to budget with priority(what is important to you).

 

[cymbaldiva]

I thought all Health Care would be completely Free next year.
No?

Umm, no.

 

[badblackpug]

Are none of you actually divorced?

While a non working ex-spouse might qualify for assistance, the working ex-spouse would be required to cover the children on his/her plan.

The person carrying the medical benefits would be required to carry them through the separation.

 

[Fjobe]

Are none of you actually divorced?

While a non working ex-spouse might qualify for assistance, the working ex-spouse would be required to cover the children on his/her plan.

The person carrying the medical benefits would be required to carry them through the separation.

This must differ by state. I work daily with people receiving our state insurance for kids, and it is based on the income of the custodial parent. There are some kids who have state and private insurance when the non-custodial parent provides private insurance.

 

[dakcp2001]

It is unethical, and committing fraud. I personally find it appalling. If you have to lie to get it, then you deserve whatever the consequences will be when you get caught.

 

[angwill]

Sadly, this is where the country is going where health care is concerned. People are going to have to accept it like it or not; unethical or not. This is all part of the mess that is healthcare in America. It has been messed up for way too long and will only get worse.

 

[cornflake]

It is unethical, and committing fraud. I personally find it appalling. If you have to lie to get it, then you deserve whatever the consequences will be when you get caught.

How is it fraud and how would anyone get 'caught?'

As I understand it, there are different benefits available to married and unmarried people. They're married, they'd prefer the benefits available to the unmarried, they're considering divorcing to qualify.

They'd then be unmarried. How would that be fraud? Or anything that they could get caught doing? They divorce, they're no longer married, hence different qualification.

People get married all the time because the tax benefits or whatever are better, or to make some inheritance or custody rules easier, what's the difference?

 

[RitaE]

every state is different but often to qualify for state benefits you need to disclose whether or not the applicant is able to obtain other health insurance benefits or whether the applicant should be covered under the other parents policy. With increasingly tighter budgets the states will often garnish a non-custodial parents wages to reimburse medicaid costs.

Further, most aid applications require household income, not marital income. A common case of fraud is for a boyfriend (girlfriend, ex-husband etc) to be living in the house but not to disclose their wages. So in order to not be fraud, they would not only need to be divorced, they would possibly have to maintain separate residences.

I really can't say I've ever seen anybody get married for a tax benefit. Off the top of my head I can't think of one but it is early and I haven't soaked in much coffee yet. There used to be a marriage tax penalty to being married and it is one of the things scheduled to reappear with the fiscal cliff issues.

 

[cornflake]

every state is different but often to qualify for state benefits you need to disclose whether or not the applicant is able to obtain other health insurance benefits or whether the applicant should be covered under the other parents policy. With increasingly tighter budgets the states will often garnish a non-custodial parents wages to reimburse medicaid costs.

Further, most aid applications require household income, not marital income. A common case of fraud is for a boyfriend (girlfriend, ex-husband etc) to be living in the house but not to disclose their wages. So in order to not be fraud, they would not only need to be divorced, they would possibly have to maintain separate residences.

I really can't say I've ever seen anybody get married for a tax benefit. Off the top of my head I can't think of one but it is early and I haven't soaked in much coffee yet. There used to be a marriage tax penalty to being married and it is one of the things scheduled to reappear with the fiscal cliff issues.

I know of a number of elderly couples who have married for the financial benefits, either from some ss inheritance or some tax benefit or etc. I don't know the specifics, but that's been the reason given.

If it's household and people are living in the same one but claiming they don't, I agree that'd be fraudulent.

I was reading it as strictly married vs. unmarried and people divorcing so as to take advantage of the unmarried status benefits. If that's the case I don't think it's fraudulent or wrong.

 

[RitaE]

I suppose it happens, I certainly can't say I've seen a number of them. In my experience Senior Citizens are more likely to choose not to marry because of the tax, legal, and estate complications.

http://marriage.about.com/cs/cohabitation/a/cohabseniors.htm

 

[PatsMom]

Under Medicaid rules, obtaining a divorce strictly for the purpose of qualifying for benefits is fraud. We checked into it for a client who was a quadraplegic. You had to definitely have separate residences. I would think that requirement alone would negate the benefit of qualifying for welfare (which is what Medicaid is). It is meant as a safety net to catch those who are truly in need, not those who are going to have to struggle to make a co-pay increase.

My premiums are going up, my co-pays are going up, my co-insurance is going up as well. My max out of pocket goes from $2,500 to $3,000 next year. Somehow I will manage to pay these things.

One other issue to keep in mind is that if you divorce, you divide assets. Assets matter in medicaid calculations. So if you have a husband with a large retirement account, it will be divided by marital law in the state as part of the divorce settlement. So shifting all assets to one spouse and then divorcing will not work.

I know in NH retirement accounts such as IRAs are considered assets available to pay for medical care. My brother has a severely handicapped daughter and they had to cash out his wife's IRA to "spend down".

The divorce strategy might work, but is it worth the risk of getting caught? It's like married couples who divorced on December 30 and re-married on January 2 to avoid filing joint tax returns. That was found to be fraudulent.,

 

[DebMcDonald]

Next year our co-pays are going up to $50 for a dr. visit and $65 for a specialist visit. Some of my co-workers at my job were seriously discussing getting a legal separation/divorce (still staying with their spouse) just to be able to get onto GA Peachcare insurance for their children. I can't say that I don't blame them really. One of them has been married almost 17 years, but fears they won't be able to afford the co-pays. It is a shame that many married people get screwed like this.

I don't agree with it, but those are the same people that also divorce to get more financial aid money to their kids for college, though I don't agree with it, I do understand why they are doing it.

 

[Marionnette]

I thought all Health Care would be completely Free next year.
No?

No. Everyone will be mandated to purchase health insurance or else pay a penalty (or tax ).