Did You Lose Your Health Insurance When You Lost Your Job?
In order to protect employees from suddenly losing their health insurance after they have either lost their job or voluntarily left their place of employment, the federal government passed legislation which entitles employees to continue their healthy insurance coverage and protect themselves and their loved ones. If you had health insurance coverage with your former workplace, you may qualify to extend your health insurance coverage under COBRA insurance. This applies to people who were forced to leave their job, and COBRA insurance also covers people who quit or voluntarily left their job.
Congress passed the COBRA insurance legislation in 1986 and did so to make certain that anyone who loses their job, quits their job, or has their hours reduced can continue to be eligible for their group health insurance plan. Under the COBRA insurance legislation, individuals and their families/dependents are able to continue to receive health insurance benefits for a federally specified time period at the same cost. This provides a great alternative for many people who otherwise would have immediately lost all health insurance coverage or at least experienced a coverage interruption. With that said, under the COBRA law you will be responsible for the full premium, both what you paid as well as what your employer paid, to continue coverage. In some cases, this is still significantly cheaper than signing up for a new plan, however depending on your situation; a COB RA health insurance alternative may be much more affordable. Many people find that if they are in good health, COBRA insurance alternatives may be up to $10,000 cheaper than keeping their coverage under COBRA.
In order to be eligible and qualify for COBRA insurance, you must meet three key eligibility requirements that are outlined by the federal government. These requirement include: the type of health insurance plan you currently have with your employer, the reason that you are losing your coverage (known as the qualifying event), and people currently covered under your plan (known as the qualifying beneficiaries). To receive the option to continue coverage under COBRA insurance
you must meet all the requirements. First, the type of insurance plan you were covered under at your prior employer must cover at least 20 full time employees. Additionally, you must have either lost your job or quit your job without the presence of gross misconduct. COBRA insurance will not apply if you were terminated for any type of severe misconduct. This is important to understand because many people do not realize that you qualify for COBRA insurance even if you quit your job. Lastly, when the law refers to qualified beneficiaries, this refers to who will be able to continue their coverage under COBRA insurance. Generally, anyone who was previously covered under your policy will continued to be covered, but there are some exceptions. This normally includes your spouse, children, and any other dependents on your plan. If you meet all of these requirements, you are likely eligible for COBRA insurance.
Most COBRA insurance plans will allow you to continue coverage for 18 months after the date of job loss. This means you will be covered under your policy, as long as you pay the premiums, for a year and a half from the date your coverage ended. However, some states offer extended benefits and depending on the current governmental policies as well as economic climate, this period may be extended. It is worth asking your employer, who is mandated by law to provide this information, how long you qualify to keep your COBRA insurance.
COBRA insurance coverage can continue, if you elect to choose it, but unlike at most places of employment, you will become responsible for the entire premium plus an additional 2% service charge. This means you will have to continue paying anything you had been paying for health insurance plus whatever your employer contributed. Many employers subsidize a large part of your health insurance, and sometimes all of it, so this can be a large expense. With that said, this is still normally cheaper than finding the exact same coverage on your own and will ensure you do not have an interruption in your health insurance coverage or do not qualify completely under a new policy. Your deductibles and co-pays will stay the same If you decide that you would like to continue your health insurance coverage under COBRA insurance, you will have 60 days to complete the enrollment form and elect the COBRA insurance coverage. This process will start by your employer providing you with a COBRA insurance election form within 14 days of notifying you of loss of coverage – normally your termination date. You should ask for this election form from your employer if it is not provided immediately, although they are required to provide it by federal law. If you elect to sign up for the coverage, anytime within the 60 days, it will be retroactive from the day that your health insurance coverage would have ended.
If you have recently lost or quit your job and learn you are not eligible for federal COBRA insurance, there still is a chance you are eligible to receive COBRA insurance. Many states have created extended COBRA insurance plans and laws that help employees who can not receive coverage continuation under federal COBRA insurance laws. These laws are many times referred to as COBRA Insurance Continuation Laws or Mini COBRA insurance laws. Generally, these state run COBRA insurance plans will cover employees in smaller companies, with between 2-19 employees and sometimes even extend coverage longer than the typical 18 months under the federal plan. With that said, although many of these state run COBRA insurance plans cost the same as the federal COBRA insurance plans, 102%, some may cost as much as %150 of the premium.
Your other option, if either you do not qualify for COBRA insurance or find the premiums are just too expensive, is to sign up for an alternative COBRA insurance plan by seeking out and finding a private, federal, or state run health insurance provider. First you should check to see if you can gain coverage under any state or federally sponsored health insurance plans and if not, many people consider the following types of insurance plans – private individual health insurance plans, catastrophic health insurance, private family health insurance plans, short term health insurance, and high deductible health insurance. Many of these offer less expensive plans. As you consider these plans make sure to read the policies carefully and think through any existing conditions you have, you age, as well as the co-pays, deductibles, and coverage.
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