Can my wife collect disability and keep her current health insurance coverage?
If circumstances force your wife to quit “working” for her parents, you should look into COBRA continuation coverage. This would give her an additional 18 months of insurance – if your group is large enough. Federal COBRA rules require 20 employees. Your state may have an equivalent law which lowers the threshold – California’s is 2 employees. Assuming your wife qualifies as disabled under the Social Security rules, she may be able to extend COBRA beyond 18 months. Also, some group plans offer conversion coverage, which you can elect if you’re not eligible for COBRA or when it expires. The benefits will not be the same as the group plan, and it will cost more. But, conversion coverage means you are automatically approved for an individual plan. You won’t be denied coverage or have pre-existing conditions excluded. I’m a little concerned that you may get in trouble with your group insurer if they find out your wife is not really working. Some insurers have minimum work-time requirements
This may not answer your question specifically, but my mother just received her disability benefits so I know a little about the process. You can’t prove you’re disabled and unable to work if you are technically employed. She’ll need to quit the job as soon as possible, and even then they will contact that employer and want to know the exact date of when that disability prevented her from doing her job responsibilities. They will bring in a vocation expert which will determine if there is any job on this entire planet which she is capable of doing. Even if that expert determines that she is unable to work, she may still be denied. My mother was denied three times over a total of 4 years. This is not uncommon. It is a long and arduous process meant to weed out the phonies, so you if you are thinking of paying the insurance out of pocket, keep in mind that yes, it will cost more, and yes, you could be paying it for several years before she is approved. Also, my mother was totally without
I am a lawyer and I am a board certified specialist in Social Security disability law. However, I am not your lawyer and you should take what I say as general advice only. It does not sound as if your wife is working; rather she is receiving a subsidy in order to receive health insurance. The Social Security Administration has very specialized rules for looking at what lay people might assume to be work. Over the years, I’ve successfully represented several claimants who were in the exact same position and the money they received, while requiring an explanation, was not a bar to receiving disability benefits. Another factor that comes into play is the amount of money received–if it is low enough, the Social Security Administration would not be overly concerned with it. So, Ugh is not necessarily correct when she says your wife must quit her job immediately. She is correct that this can be a long drawn out process. One thing you need to know is that the Social Security Administration i
Yes, exactly why you should speak to a lawyer. I didn’t mean to imply it would be impossible for her to receive disability while technically employed, just that i’ve never heard of anyone doing that successfully. My mother had a vocation expert state that she was “completely unemployable” due to her health conditions and limited education, several doctors testify that she was permanently disabled, and she was actually unable to attend one of her hearings due to a massive stroke she had suffered the week before. She was still denied twice after that before she was approved. The system will search for absolutely any reason to deny her disability, which is why I said if it were me, I would quit the “job,” and not give any unnecessary ammo. Best of luck to you both, don’t give up.
If you’re permanently disabled, you can qualify for Medicare parts A-D after two years. Medicare is really pretty good insurance to have, all told.
Related Questions
- If I am out on FML and have exhausted my paid time (i.e., sick time, paid time off, short-term disability, etc.), does my health insurance coverage end?
- Does the Social Security Disability Insurance program provided any health insurance coverage?
- Can my wife collect disability and keep her current health insurance coverage?
