Health insurance for kids only?

[Lady V]

Hello! I am having a bit of a problem with my ex-husband providing the court ordered health insurance on our two children (ages 9 and 11). I am looking into just getting it on my own and then taking it to court. Does anyone know or recommend any plans that will cover kids only without adults on the plan? Thank you for any information!!

 

[mom0299]

Several years ago we took our kids off our employee plan and got them individual insurance at Farm Bureau. It was cheaper and they had good coverage. Recently we added them back onto DH's plan for different reasons. But we were happy with Farm Bureau. I don't know if you have that where you are, but you might want to look into it.

 

[woodkins]

Don't know what state you're in, but in NY the state runs a plan called Child Health Plus. Any child is elgible, and the premium you pay is based upon your family income. If you earn above a certain amount you pay the full premium & then it is pro-rated according to a salary grid. It is not medicade or for "the poor" it is for all state residents who are interested. For our family the coverage that the CHP plan provides far exceeded the coverage we were getting through our business. The state plan offeres full medical, dental and vision-no copays and no deductibles. We use the Blue Cross Blue Shield network of doctors and hospitals & I tell everyone I know about the wonderful value and coverage the plan offers.

I would check to see if your state runs a similar program.

 

[windycitymom]

Illinois has a similar program called "All Kids" where you pay based on your income. Check out www.allkids.com

 

[gandycat]

PA has a similar program called CHIP

 

[summerrluvv]

Don't know what state you're in, but in NY the state runs a plan called Child Health Plus. Any child is elgible, and the premium you pay is based upon your family income. If you earn above a certain amount you pay the full premium & then it is pro-rated according to a salary grid. It is not medicade or for "the poor" it is for all state residents who are interested. For our family the coverage that the CHP plan provides far exceeded the coverage we were getting through our business. The state plan offeres full medical, dental and vision-no copays and no deductibles. We use the Blue Cross Blue Shield network of doctors and hospitals & I tell everyone I know about the wonderful value and coverage the plan offers.

I would check to see if your state runs a similar program.

My children have this insurance. It's great because ANYONE can apply like you said. Not just "poor" people. If you are over the income limit, you just pay the premium which is FAR less than what it would cost to get private insurance. No co-pays, no deductibles and you get to pick which plan you want. The only issue I have now is that the local hospital and HUGE network of doctors no longer takes the United Healthcare Americhoice plan so I had to switch my son's hematologist. Not a biggie, but if you are in NY, I would probably opt for a different plan because they are forever having problems with contracts not being renewed. My daughter has the Blue Cross plan and we have never had issues with that one.

 

[Jeff_G]

Why not just go back to the judge and have him held in contempt of court? I'm sure the judge will not look favorably on the ex for not following a court order.

Of course you might just inform your ex that you will be doing so if he doesnt have insurance on the children by the end of the week...

 

[williamson_ja]

Why not just go back to the judge and have him held in contempt of court? I'm sure the judge will not look favorably on the ex for not following a court order.

Of course you might just inform your ex that you will be doing so if he doesnt have insurance on the children by the end of the week...

This seems a lot easier than it actually is. My dh and I are both divorced and have had to deal with things like this frequently. Where I live, even if you take them back to court, nothing is really going to happen. The judge may reiterate that he needs to get the insurance, but they are not going to garnish his wages or do anything to MAKE him do it. If you can start buying the insurance yourself, you may be able to go back and have the judge order him to pay you your cost for the insurance. However, making them actually pay what they are ordered is a whole other thing. Good luck!

 

[Tiggerish]

The state of Michigan has a child program also.

 

[williamson_ja]

We have a child health insurance program in Utah (Chip) but it is for low income families only. There is no program for kids without health insurance that make just over the income limits (our family). No insurance is offered through either my or my husbands employer. My kids also have pre-existing conditions. We were quoted $1500/month for health insurance that had a $2500 deductable per person and didn't include prescription coverage at all. We are barely above the income limits for ours. We've lived without insurance for 5 years because of it. It has encouraged me to become far more educated on how to have healthy habits at home to prevent medical care. We can deal with almost anything at home now. On the other hand, if we were able to get insurance at any point, we would definitely be signing up. I hope you can get your kids coverage. It's often scary not to have it.

 

[Frannie115]

In NC, you can get Blue Cross Blue Shield for children only and the state also has a program called NC Health Choice for kids (reduced or free). This helped us out tremendously when my DH was out of work. Good luck.

 

[OlivesMom]

My daughter is on a private policy through HeathNet in AZ. It is much cheaper than adding her to my policy through work and I really like having control over her account. Of course the premiums go up and up every year, but she has better coverage than I do. I'd get a policy in place and then go after him so there isn't a big gap. I also had to buy emergency coverage for my daughter and myself inbetween policies, it was very reasonable and very reassuring until she was approved for the private policy.

 

[tonilea]

Why not just go back to the judge and have him held in contempt of court? I'm sure the judge will not look favorably on the ex for not following a court order.

Of course you might just inform your ex that you will be doing so if he doesnt have insurance on the children by the end of the week...

Not that this is a bad idea, but in the mean time her children are unprotected.

 

[aaarcher86]

Take a look on your divorce order under the insurance section. I know if my Uncle does not carry insurance on his children he pays an additional amount of child support each month.

When you do end up going back to court, if that is similar to your agreement it would take some of the cost burden off of you. Or if you can show how much it costs you they made modify his child support to include that amount.

 

[HLDisney]

My children have this insurance. It's great because ANYONE can apply like you said. Not just "poor" people. If you are over the income limit, you just pay the premium which is FAR less than what it would cost to get private insurance. No co-pays, no deductibles and you get to pick which plan you want. The only issue I have now is that the local hospital and HUGE network of doctors no longer takes the United Healthcare Americhoice plan so I had to switch my son's hematologist. Not a biggie, but if you are in NY, I would probably opt for a different plan because they are forever having problems with contracts not being renewed. My daughter has the Blue Cross plan and we have never had issues with that one.

Thanks for posting about this! I've been unemployed since last summer and was trying to figure out how to reduce my COBRA payments (which are ridiculously high for just the 2 of us) If I can get my DD on this plan and off of COBRA, it will help me out a lot!

Thanks,
Helen

 

[Marlon]

hi guys,,,
Yeah,but you haven't mentioned in which area are you residing.Rules and companies differs from place to place.As a parent, there is nothing more important than keeping our children happy, safe and healthy. But we can only do so much. Aside from making sure that our kids eat the right foods and vitamins, sickness and injuries may be just looming around the corner.

 

[rvchat]

NY NJ area

 

[sameyeyam]

If you know that he has group medical insurance at work, but is just choosing to not enroll the kids, report him to your state child support enforcement office.

They will issue an order to the employer to put the children on the group health insurance (if available) and to deduct the cost out of your ex's paycheck. He will not have an option and if the employer ignores the order to put them on the medical plan (if available), the state can hold the employer liable and force them to put them on the plan and make it retroactive to when they first received the order.

I handle the payroll at our company and we actually get more notices to put children on medical insurance then we do garnishments for child support.

Obviously this is not an option if he is not eligible for medical insurance at his place of employment. But if he is, it will force the issue.

 

[Lady V]

Hello! OP here! Thank you for all the replies. I am in Tennessee. He performs for a living and is not offered insurance at work. I called for quotes for the kids and I was told that due to the new health reform that they no longer write policies for just kids only. They said an adult must be on the plan. So frustrating because this is just getting harder and harder. I do know a person who added their kids and was able to have it added in arrears. I'll probably need to just do that-he "promises" that "nothing" is more important to him ....

 

[NewCrew42]

Hello! OP here! Thank you for all the replies. I am in Tennessee. He performs for a living and is not offered insurance at work. I called for quotes for the kids and I was told that due to the new health reform that they no longer write policies for just kids only. They said an adult must be on the plan. So frustrating because this is just getting harder and harder. I do know a person who added their kids and was able to have it added in arrears. I'll probably need to just do that-he "promises" that "nothing" is more important to him ....

Tennessee CoverKids

Not sure if you would qualify, but it might be worth looking into. My BIL and SIL are looking into this for his kids in Missouri right now. They are not offered insurance thru their work.