Health insurance for spouses after divorce, explained

In many cases, both spouses in a marriage are covered by one spouse’s health insurance policy. It rarely makes sense for each spouse to carry individual coverage.

This presents an issue to be addressed in a divorce. If, after a marriage ends, the parties are no longer “spouses,” then how do you maintain coverage when insurance policies generally cover individuals and spouses.

Nebraska law has a provision, though, to make that transition a little easier. As discussed here, divorce orders are not technically final orders for different durations. And one of those is a statute (Neb. Rev. Stat sec. 42-371.01(3)) that says a divorce is not considered final “for purposes of continuation of health insurance” for six months after the entry of the Decree.

That means, even though for all other purposes the divorce is a final order, when you are just talking about continuation of health insurance the parties are still considered married for six months after the entry of the Decree. Particularly if the soon-to-be-uninsured spouse is able to make plans even before the divorce, this time should give that spouse an opportunity to make proper arrangements for their own health insurance coverage.