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Health Insurance

shelly johnson's picture

Question: My question is, can my (soon to be) ex-husband (my sons SD) sue my sons BD for the cost of covering his sons health/dental over the last seveal years since the BD is court ordered to cover him and has not? In premiums alone (not to mention all the medical bills he helped pay for while we were together) my ex's cost for covering my sons health/dental was approx $3000-$4000 in the last 5 years.

Background: I live in the state of Missouri. My husband and I have been seperated for almost two years, however; we have stayed legally married so that he can continue to cover my son and I on his health/dental insurance while I complete my Masters program and work part-time. (Our agreement was I would incur the cost of the house so we would not face a bankruptcy or foreclosure as he could come close to paying for the house by himself, he would cover my health insuance while I finished school. Workin PRN as a nurse would allow me to afford the house but I do not get health insurance) My sons BD has never covered my son on his insurance although he has had access and it has been court ordered that way. Also, he has never paid a penny towards my sons medical expenses, which have been significant as he has an illness that has required frequent hospitalizations, medications, treatments, therapies, etc. Our public school and town even raised nearly $5,000 to send us to the Mayo Clinic in 2009, his dad did not offer a cent. It is time my generous soon to be ex-husband be relieved of this burden, he works two jobs so that he can continue to cover us. My son has two years left in HS then will go on to college, so he will need to be covered for about four more years (he plans to complete an associates in nursing). My sons BD threw a fit when my ex and I split up and I let him know he would need to cover his sons insurance. He told tell me I would have to call him (I am in KC, he is in St Louis) whenever I wanted to take my son to the doctor and get his permission or he would not pay for it. Also, he reminded me that I would be responsible for half of all incurred expenses. My ex and I were so disgusted by his display of selfishness that we said forget it. My ex did not want me to have to deal with that. I am now forcing the issue and going to make my sons BD cover our child. He is starting a new job and the transition will be smooth for him to add my son (he already has a wife and two kids, I don't even think it will even add that much to his premiums at that point). My ex's premiums went up quite a bit this year and it's just not fair to him.

Thanks,
Shelly

StickAFork's picture

I think you're taking advantage of your XH's kindness. You need to get this figured out between the kids' bioparents.

No, I don't believe there is any recourse for your STBXH...he and your XH have no contractual agreement.