Losing or quitting a job is extremely stressful.  For most people money is tight and they are worried about their financial future.  And then they find out how much COBRA insurance costs and in many cases begin to panic.  Rightfully so.  COBRA insurance costs over $1000 monthly for most families and after losing a job this is an expense that most people simply can’t afford.  Luckily there are many other options out there that can help with COBRA insurance cost reduction.

Before we look at ways to reduce the cost of COBRA insurance, let’s first look at why COBRA insurance is so expensive.  In any workplace there are people are varying ages with varying degrees of health needs.  There likely are people who need constant medical care and may have ongoing, serious medical needs, and people who are generally healthy and hardly ever use their health insurance plan.  A group health insurance plan at an employer has to cover all people which drives the costs up.  Since the health insurance plan inevitably will cover people with preexisting conditions or at risk for expensive and serious health conditions, the health insurance plan is expensive.  If you are generally healthy, likely there are much more affordable options out there for you and your family.  And even if you are not generally healthy, there still may be ways to reduce the cost of COBRA insurance.

1.  Consider COBRA Insurance Alternatives to Save Up to 65%

Many people think that private health insurance plans are extremely expensive due to the news and all the coverage about the outrageous expense of health insurance.  However, for people who are in generally good health, health insurance plans can be affordable and are almost always much cheaper than COBRA insurance.  The easiest way to learn what other health insurance options are out there is to get a free quote that will provide you with multiple options from multiple companies at all price points.  Exploring these plans gives you an idea of how much a private health insurance plan would cost and what it would include.  Most people find that they can get almost identical coverage for about 65% less (or over $600 less per month) by choosing a COBRA insurance alternative.

2.  Choose COBRA ONLY for Family Members with Preexisting Conditions or Serious Health Needs

Many times if someone in your family has a preexisting or serious medical condition, you automatically think that COBRA insurance is your only option.   You are partially right.  In most cases, COBRA insurance will be the most cost effective health insurance plan for the person with the preexisting condition since they likely won’t qualify for other health insurance plans.  However, that doesn’t mean that the whole family needs to sign up for COBRA insurance.  You can choose to only have the person with the preexisting condition on COBRA and sign everyone else up for a less expensive health insurance plan.  This is possible whether or not the person with the preexisting health condition is the former employee or not.  It is possible to just keep a spouse or child on COBRA and move the rest of the family to a new plan.