Divorce and Cobra

Paul in Cannon Beach · January 2006

One of our ee's is apparently getting a divorce. His wife and daughter have left and moved to another state.

I don't know if they are seperated, legally seperated, divorced or what. I have asked the ee but he didn't give me a firm answer.

Our ee has indicated he is resigning in a few months after he finishes school.

This is my first experience with an ee getting divorced. I suppose I am fortunate but I could use some advice on COBRA issues.

Also, how aggressive should I be in determining the actual status of their marriage? Is it their responsibility? We pay 100 percent of the ee's premium (including spouse and dependents) so there is no real incentive for him to drop her from the policy. It doesn't cost him anything. Our insurance handbook indicates its the ee's responsibility to notify the employer of a divorce.

Thanks!

LarryC · January 2006

Hey Paul,

First of all, if your initial COBRA notice is up-to-date, it indicates that it is the employee's responsibility to let you know of a qualifying event such as divorce has occurred. Apparently it is OccurrING. Once it is final, the divorced spouse and dependents that went with her should be offered COBRA.

I would keep pressing, without hounding, so that eventually I could get them off the insurance since he seems to not be very forthcoming with information.

durasupreme · January 2006

Our plan would not allow the spouse to be dropped until the divorce is final. Many times the ee will say "I'm getting divorced and I want my blankety-blank spouse taken off the insurance", but the actual divorce may not occur until several months later. Until the ink is dry on the divorce decree, the spouse is entitled to coverage, unless there would be another qualifying event, such as becoming covered under their own health plan. Good luck!

Dutch2 · January 2006

On the other hand, if they have divorced and he is not telling you, and if the former spouse or should have a claim it could get ugly (read in mostly extra paperwork) trying to settle the claim when they discover that they were not married at the time of the claim and therefore for her to have coverage it would have to be through COBRA.
When we hear of a possible divorce in the making we find a way in casual conversation to tell the employee the requirements for eligibility in our insurance plans just to ensure there are no surprises for anyone.
So far this has worked very well.
Good luck.

Paul in Cannon Beach · January 2006

Thanks for the advice. My plan is to discuss this with him Monday.

E Wart · February 2006

This can be difficult. One thing you mentioned that might be a good way to start the conversation, is that he said that they moved out of state. If you have a managed care plan, does your network service out of state, do they need information on directories in their new location, and is there an address change for them. (Even if divorced, he still may be liable for daughter's coverage.) You may want to ask him if he remembers the COBRA information he was sent when he originally was employed? If not, may be provide him with another copy.
We recently had an employee come to us and said he was divorced. After asking him several times and giving him forms, he told us a date. We had him bring in a copy of the divorce papers... required before we can drop them. However, it took about a month for this to happen (which made me very suspicios about a divorce if you can't find the papers.) Anyway, we notified our group insurance as soon as we learned this might be the case. What they did was not remove her (until we got the divorce papers) but "suspended" any claims to be processed, until we got this straightened out. This way we didn't over pay anything. It turned out the employee told us in August and divorce was final in Feb. Luckily we didn't have any claims during these 6 months. Also, didn't matter with premium since had more than 3 covered. However, would have only gone back a limited amount of time to reimbure him premium if it had mattered.
E Wart

Paul in Cannon Beach · February 2006

I have talked with the ee but he claims he doesn't really know whats going on. The marriage is over and his wife is living with their daughter in Portland so the out of state idea is not an option now.

They are pretty young and its possible that they might not even bother with an official divorce for awhile. I know that sounds hard to believe.

He says he will let me know when he hears anything but I am not sure if I can count on that.

Paul in Cannon Beach · March 2006

UPDATE:

EE has resigned effective March 31st. I met with him today to go over a few things including COBRA. I asked him about the status of his divorce. He says he has no clue. He isn't totally sure where his "ex" is living.

Any tips on how I can get a COBRA notice to her? If they aren't divorced do I need to even give her a seperate one?

Balloonman1 · March 2006

Do you need to get the COBRA notice to her? They are still married, mail it addressed to both of them at the address listed.

Hope for the best. DOcument your conversation with him.

My $0.02 worth,
The Balloonman

Paul in Cannon Beach · March 2006

Thanks Balloonman. I spend so much time telling others to document, document, document that I sometimes forget to myself.

I was given a new address for the wife and will send a cobra notice there.

By the way, one of my favorite movie lines comes from Raising Arizona:

"Do those balloons blow up into funny shapes?"

"No, unless you think round is funny."

HRCalico · March 2006

I had an EE get divorced and not tell anyone; in fact, he didn't notify me until about 4-5 months after the fact and he was required to carry her for six months. Looking back, I think I should have dropped her and charged him the cobra amount (we pay 50%) but at that point, it was rather moot. Anyway, he didn't know where the ex was, so he gave me a last known address (her parents'). I sent the paperwork certified, and it came back. I stuck the whole envelope in his file as documentation.

I also have an EE that is completely separated and split from his wife and it is all over but the filing, but until things actually happen, she stays on.

Life does get complicated sometimes.

Paul in Cannon Beach · March 2006

Last Update (I think): The EE dropped off what he has said is his wife's current address.

I contacted our COBRA administrator and they were very helpful in sending a notice to her at that address.

Interestingly, one issue that came up was whether the ee was "legally seperated" as that distinction makes a difference.

Divorce and Cobra

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