Did you talk to your insurance company or just your employer?

Also your income sounds way too high to qualify for Masshealth.

Just the insurance person at my employer,

also if it’s just for my kid?

Ask your job what you need to add your child. Custody doesn't always mean responsible for insurance.

What does it spell out in your custody arrangement? What insurance have you had up to now for your kid?

Kids don’t exist independent of their parents for this purpose - your income determines your kid’s eligibility outside some very specific circumstances (like adoption for instance, kids adopted from foster care are eligible for certain benefits).

Call your insurance company directly. Some events are qualifiers for signing up for insurance outside open enrollment. What insurance did your child have prior to the custody change? If it just happened they would still have coverage presumably.

That's crappy, it should qualify as a life changing event. Marriage, divorce, custody change, birth, death.

November is usually open enrollment for health insurance. Possibly that change can be made with your company in a few weeks. Best of luck!

No 55k with a child he should qualify for low cost. When you add a dependent the amount goes up. It also depends on the average median income in the zip code. Unfortunately because thier job offers health insurance he probably has to get it through them. Unless it would bring them below poverty level.

Thank you, will try this and I’m not sure about the insurance my kid had before because of unable to contact other parent but will ask My kids Doctor.

That’s what I thought too.

Ty!

You should be able to get a copy of the court order at the court house. Then I would make a couple copies of it for your records. I would then give it to HR or the Person who handles your insurance. I had to do this myself. Hope it helps. If you are collecting child support they may add that to your income. Keep a copy of the court order in case of any emergency. Say you become unemployed or need some other type of aid. Also get a hold of DOR and get copies of how much support you get and how often.

I did send it to the insurance person at my job at first they said that this is a “qualifying event” to add someone to my insurance but then they came back saying it didn’t say in the court order that I had to add her to my insurance

Remember HR isn't always accurate or up to date. This sounds like the child had insurance but lost it so as a member of your household this would qualify. Email the HR manager and explain.

Is health insurance listed anywhere in the new court order? Is the other parent on the order at all or is it basically saying you’re the only parent now?

Insurance is not listed in the order, I’m to have sole (temporary) custody and placement of my kid, in a few months on the next court order I’ll most likely be made permanent.

Can you look into the CHIP program also? That’s an alternative health insurance option that’s not exactly mass health but not commercial insurance either.

It’s basically Medicaid that you can pay for for lowER income people who don’t qualify for mass health because their earnings are a little too high.

CHIP info from benefits.gov

Yes this is the answer. Change in your status re- opens enrollment and when you look at a family plan you're going to regret this decision. Because the cost for a single person versus a family plan is absolutely outrageous. I would do anything I could do to keep on MassHealth. Pretty sad that we keep ourselves poor to get insurance.

I'm lucky I had an option for employee +1 when I was a single parent of 1 child.

Thank you!

I think they call it a “qualifying event” and your child should be able to be added to your plan with just a paper saying you’re putting them on your insurance open enrollment or not.

Source- I did this hoop jump about 5 years ago with my kids. You don’t need a court order you might have to get a notarized affidavit saying that you are now the custodial parent (the qualifying event).

you already have it? So it’s not just for your kid, you’re adding a dependent, that’s the actual definition of a qualifying event.

that’s not how it works… your insurance person is incorrect. You don’t need the court order to spell it out… if you get custody unless it’s stipulated the other parent provides the insurance. The onus is on the insurance carrier to add your new dependent to your plan.

The permanent order will address health insurance. Until then wherever coverage the kid already has should remain in place.

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That’s tough. I’m guessing that your work doesn’t see temporary orders as life changing event. Could you ask them before your next court date to clarify what should be in the new orders?

Was your child previously covered under their other parent's insurance policy and lost coverage when custody changed? If so, you have a qualified change in status and you can enroll them outside of open enrollment.

If the child is a former preemie and has ongoing disabilities/medical conditions, they may qualify for MassHealth on the basis of disability regardless of your income.

Yes but November is open enrollment for the following year. The child needs insurance now. When you have a qualifying change in status, you can add someone to your insurance at anytime. I got married in November and added my husband to my policy outside of open enrollment and it became effective retroactive to our wedding date.

Yeah, I’m going to have to call my insurance directly

It’s a different state so I assumed I needed a new insurance for my kid

Thank you for this info, I’ll make sure to emphasize this.

I have seen a case this week were a coworker had a life event and HR tried to turn him down for insurance. Once the HR manager found out it was fixed immediately but he had to chase it all the way to get what he deserved.