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Just health insurance or dental & vision too?

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mmattox

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Nebraska

In my husband's decree, it states, "Respondent shall maintain current or similar health insurance on the minor child as long as said coverage is available to him through his employment."

My husband is the NCP, and he switched jobs and did not have insurance available to him for awhile. During that time, his ex-wife put their son on her medical insurance policy. We are now going to put his son on our health insurance policy. Is my husband responsible to carry dental and vision insurance also, or just the health insurance, as stated in the decree?
 


haiku

Senior Member
he is responsible for what is available to him through his employer and nothing more. just as it states in his agreement.
 

mmattox

Junior Member
His decree states "health insurance", so does that mean that he needs to provide all insurance available to him, including vision and dental? I would think that the decree would have to state vision and dental specifically.
 

mmattox

Junior Member
He is already covered by his Mother's insurance. My husband doesn't think he should have to pay for the vision and dental if he is not required to. If the Mother couldn't provide it, he would, but she is more than able to.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
mmattox said:
He is already covered by his Mother's insurance. My husband doesn't think he should have to pay for the vision and dental if he is not required to. If the Mother couldn't provide it, he would, but she is more than able to.
You might be very sorry down the road if JR needs braces and you don't have secondary coverage.
 

mmattox

Junior Member
Maybe, but right now we just want to know if we are legally required to provide the dental and vision insurance. We don't want double coverage on him; just single. She is not going to keep health coverage on him now that we are providing it. Don't take this situation wrong; the Mother is very well off and can afford to provide the insurance, so he will not go without being covered.

We just want to know who, legally, has to provide the coverage.
 

xylene

Senior Member
haiku said:
he is responsible for what is available to him through his employer and nothing more. just as it states in his agreement.
Couldn't be more clear.

What his ex can or cannot afford is irrelevant.
What matters is:
"Respondent shall maintain current or similar health insurance on the minor child as long as said coverage is available to him through his employment."

So... if he had vision and dental on the kid then, he owes it now, if it is availible at his current job.

You are asking how you can nickle and dime your step-son.
 

nextwife

Senior Member
LdiJ said:
You might be very sorry down the road if JR needs braces and you don't have secondary coverage.
WE are doing our daughter's braces through the dental school. The SAME doctor she would have seen privately is overseeing her orthodontal visits, at half the cost.
 

Silverplum

Senior Member
nextwife said:
WE are doing our daughter's braces through the dental school. The SAME doctor she would have seen privately is overseeing her orthodontal visits, at half the cost.
Ingenius solution, Nextwife! :)
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Silverplum said:
Ingenius solution, Nextwife! :)
No kidding...LOL....but not relevant to this thread. Particularly since Nextwife's daughter isn't part of a divided family.
 

GrowUp!

Senior Member
xylene said:
Couldn't be more clear.

What his ex can or cannot afford is irrelevant.
What matters is:
"Respondent shall maintain current or similar health insurance on the minor child as long as said coverage is available to him through his employment."

So... if he had vision and dental on the kid then, he owes it now, if it is availible at his current job.

You are asking how you can nickle and dime your step-son.
Actually, it's NOT that clear as much as you ASSume. All of these responses and NONE of them were of great assistance to the OP, although the OP did ask a valid question.

"Health insurance" is one of those vague and broad terms. From what I've seen, most orders don't include dental/vision as part of the order, unless it's incorporated as part of the medical insurance that's provided (and we all know that is usually separate).

SO, here's a question for the OP: was the cost of dental and/or vision factored into the current/prior order? Were you ordered to carry specific insurance on dental and/or vision previously/currently?

If the answer is "no", then that's pretty much your answer.
 

ceara19

Senior Member
mmattox said:
He is already covered by his Mother's insurance. My husband doesn't think he should have to pay for the vision and dental if he is not required to. If the Mother couldn't provide it, he would, but she is more than able to.
During the time that dad did not have access to insurance for the child, was he reimbursing MOM for her costs? Although the presumption is that if the NCP is ordered to pay the cost, the NCP gets to chose the which insurance company to use in cases where insurance is available to both parents through their respective employers.. But, many CP's have successfully argued that the NCP should be ordered to reimburse them for the cost of the insurance that CURRENTLY covers the child through the CP's employer. It is even more common for this to be ordered in cases where the NCP became ineligible for coverage and the CP had to enroll the child in their insurance plan because of it.
 

michellethegrea

Junior Member
actually my cousin had a similar problem

he moved to a different county and to a different field of work where insurance is not offered and since the mother qualified for medicaid they did not make him pay for outside insurance but most of the time if you give all the coverage that is available to you it is better because then there will not be anything to quarrel about in the first place.also you have to put yourself in her shoes would you want to be shortchanged just because your ex has a new life
 

xylene

Senior Member
GrowUp! said:
Actually, it's NOT that clear as much as you ASSume. All of these responses and NONE of them were of great assistance to the OP, although the OP did ask a valid question.

"Health insurance" is one of those vague and broad terms. From what I've seen, most orders don't include dental/vision as part of the order, unless it's incorporated as part of the medical insurance that's provided (and we all know that is usually separate).

SO, here's a question for the OP: was the cost of dental and/or vision factored into the current/prior order? Were you ordered to carry specific insurance on dental and/or vision previously/currently?

If the answer is "no", then that's pretty much your answer.
This is the OP's question.

mmattox said:
Is my husband responsible to carry dental and vision insurance also, or just the health insurance, as stated in the decree?
This is the EXACT, nothing ASSumed, wording of the decree as posted by mmattox :rolleyes:

mmattox said:
"Respondent shall maintain current or similar health insurance on the minor child as long as said coverage is available to him through his employment."
The key words are current or similar.

So if he had vision and dental when divorced, and it remains avilible to him through employment, even if at a new job, then he is responsible for it.

I stand by my statement:
His new wife (the OP) is looking to nickle and dime her step kids based on what "we" (read she) believe the ex-wife should be able to afford.
 

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