divorced parents and healthcare costs (health insurance, deductible, live)

[jons_wifey]

should the person paying for health insurance also be responsible for paying half of the doctors appointment (after the office has gotten a portion from the insurance company) or is this settled usually by the divorced parents?

[Randyk47]

Originally Posted by jons_wifey

should the person paying for health insurance also be responsible for paying half of the doctors appointment (after the office has gotten a portion from the insurance company) or is this settled usually by the divorced parents?

I can’t say this is usual but when my first wife and I got divorced she had custody of our son but I covered him. Initially I carried family coverage for he and myself and my ex had a Blue Cross/Blue Shield card with his name on it. I later married an active Army member and got healthcare covered through being a family member. Struck a deal with the ex that I would up my child support for the amount difference between her self-only coverage and family plan coverage. At the time it was about an additional $50 per month. She covered co-pays and medicines for him out of the child support. He later needed braces and that had not be covered in the original divorce decree. Rather than battle in court we agreed to split the cost. On the whole I guess we were lucky and in truth got along better divorced than we did married. We never used our son as a “weapon” to punish one another. We worked out reseasonable visits even when I moved out of state and for almost four years out of country. Ex was very good about giving my mother and sister access to him as they all lived in the same town. Kind of an aside but I just lost my baby sister September 15. My ex actually visited my sister when she initially went into hospital and actually was able to talk with her which was something I was unable to do before I could get up to Tacoma, Washington. So again maybe not your typical divorce.

[sapphire]

I'm pretty sure the standard divorce decree says that one parent (typically the non-custodial) pays for child support and health insurance, and both parties split any co-pays or deductible amounts not covered. If the non-custodial parent doesn't have access to health insurance they are supposed to pay the other parent the amount they spend for health insurance on the child.

It's all subject to negotiation, though. It's up to you to ask for anything outside the standard and it's also not automatically granted to you.

Women, SADLY, have the upper hand in Texas and I say sadly AS A WOMAN. But women are usually granted custody and men are allowed to "babysit" their children when the mother deems it acceptable. Don't be that chick.