Can I legally take my wife off my medical insurance?

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Can I legally take my wife off my medical insurance?

Haven’t lived together in 8 years

Asked on February 10, 2011 under Family Law, Virginia

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 13 years ago | Contributor

There is no law requiring a person to provide health insurance for his family; even when the heath care reform act goes into full force, people will have the option of paying a fine rather than obtaining insurance. As such, you may indeed drop your wife from medical insurance, with the following caveats:

a) you can't drop just your wife, the way insurance policies are set up; if you have children and want them to be covered, the family plan will cover your wife, too.

b) you can only make the change at enrollment or renewal time, not mid-policy-year, since nothing has changed.

c) if you are going to do this, you should notify your wife in advance, so she has the opportunity to obtain new coverage. If you don't and she incurs substantial costs having relied on her health insurance, there could potentially be liability.

If you no longer live together and don't even want to cover her health insurance, you may wish to consider divorce.


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