Is there a way to confirm that my child is covered by health insurance?

I just took my son to the doctor. The insurance card provided by my son's father was not honored and the doctor's office was told that the insured had a new provider. I ended up paying full price for both the office visit and the subsequent meds. I've tried contacting his father to no avail - and have reason to believe that he may have removed my son from his policy in spite of an existing court order. I need to confirm whether or not my son is insured while I attempt to contact his father and need to secure coverage for him myself if there is no existing coverage. Is there a way to do this in light of all the HIPAA regulations?Is there a way to confirm that my child is covered by health insurance?If you knew who the new insurance carrier was, you could get a copy of the card for your son by providing the court documentation showing that you are the custodial parent.



Is your court order a Qualified Medical Child Support Order (QMCSO) or just a divorce decree stating that the father must provide insurance? There is a big difference between the two.



With a QMCSO, the father's employer has an actual legal obligation to add the child to the benefit plan - whether the father "wants" the child to be on the health plan or not. The employer receives a copy of the QMCSO sent directly to them from the court, and they are required to act on it. However, with just a divorce decree, the employer's health plan isn't obligated to do anything...the obligation falls entirely on the father to sign the kid up or purchase a private policy for him.



Unfortunately, if you don't know what insurance carrier the father's employer is using, there isn't much you can do without going through the court. (You might want to do some digging though...there can't be that many health insurance companies operating in Alaska?)



Is there a way to confirm that my child is covered by health insurance?Since your son is supposed to be covered by medical insurance, and since you are your son's parent, you should be able to contact the new provider and confirm. The doctor's office is obligated to inform you of any information regarding your son, so they should give you the name of the new insurance provider. From there, you can look them up on the Internet and contact their customer service line. If anyone gives you the run-around, you can always contact the court and advise them of the situation -- heck, they may order the father to stump up the money for the office visit and meds since it's his fault you had to pay for it.Is there a way to confirm that my child is covered by health insurance?Well, if you're asking, is there a database where you can look it up, the answer is no.



If your son does not live with his father, and/or the father does not have him as a dependent on his tax return, it's possible his group health insurer will refuse to add the non-tax-dependent to the group policy. A court order to the father, does NOT commit his insurer to including the child in his policy.



The ONLY way you can confirm the child is insured, if his father isn't cooperating, is indeed, to secure coverage yourself for the child. Then you go back to court, and have the child support amount adjusted, to reflect YOU paying for his health insurance.



**the doctor's office isn't going to have any clue who the new insurer is. Likely, the old insurer told them, the policy wasn't active for the child. The old insurer isn't going to know who the new insurer is. You COULD try calling the HR department of dad's employer, but legally, they do NOT have to tell you anything.**Is there a way to confirm that my child is covered by health insurance?
Sounds like you should just buy him a plan and call it a day.