Even couples who are happily married know the difficult and painful nature of divorce. There are valuable assets that change hands; there are complex emotional and family dynamics to consider once the split is final; and, most importantly for those couples with children, there are support and custody arrangements that need to be made so that both parents get a fair amount of time with their kids.
But there is another hidden cost to divorce that many people in Florida and, really, all across the country, don’t consider: health insurance.
Once the divorce is final, that joint insurance plan you and your spouse share can come to an end, leaving someone in a tough spot.
According to the University of Michigan, more than 100,000 women are dropped from a private health insurance plan every year due to a divorce. The study looked at data from 1996 to 2007, and found that about 65,000 of these women lose health insurance in the months after the divorce. In addition, it was more difficult for women to maintain their own private insurance after a divorce because of the financial hardship the split caused.
To be fair, many men across the country lose health insurance too — but that number would seem to be far less. Considering that women make less money than men (though this gap is closing) the financial reality after a divorce is, on average, far more troubling for a woman than a man.
If you go through a divorce, it is important to know that there are many intricacies and scenarios that you would never even consider unless you have been through a divorce before. That is why consulting an attorney well-versed in divorce law is vital for anybody considering or going through a divorce.
Source: Science Codex, “Divorce costs thousands of women health coverage,” Nov. 12, 2012