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Alaska COBRA Insurance

Posted on: March 12th, 2012 by Cobra Insurance Guide

After you lose, quit, or retire from your job one of the first major decisions that you will need to make is about Alaska COBRA insurance. Knowing your options and the difference between federal COBRA insurance, state sponsored COBRA insurance, and COBRA insurance alternatives is very important and can save you money as well as make sure you have the health coverage you desire. Many people do not know that they have options and end up spending more money than they need to.

Option 1: Federal COBRA Insurance, Monthly Average for family, $1,084

The federal COBRA insurance bill was passed in 1984 and allows people who recently quit, lost, or retired from their jobs to continue to use their employer sponsored health insurance plan for up to 18 months in most cases. This coverage was set up to protect people from suddenly being without health insurance and extended benefits to their family. Most people find they qualify for COBRA if they worked at a company with at least 20 employees on a health insurance plan and they did not lose their job due to gross misconduct like theft or sexual harassment. The major downfall of COBRA is that under the federal COBRA insurance laws, anyone signing up for COBRA insurance must pay for the entire premium plus a 2% administration fee. The employer no longer pays any part of the premium. The average cost of COBRA for a family of four is over $1000 monthly.

Option 2: State Sponsored Alaska COBRA Insurance, Monthly Average for family, $1,084

The second option in most states for people who do not qualify for federal COBRA insurance is a state sponsored COBRA insurance plan. Many states created their own mini COBRA plans to help residents who worked at companies with between 2-19 employees and therefore didn’t qualify for federal COBRA coverage. Unfortunately there isn’t a mini COBRA plan in Alaska. This means that the only Alaska COBRA insurance available is the federal plan.

Option 3: COBRA Insurance Alternatives, Monthly Average for family, $400

The final option for people who are considering Alaska COBRA insurance or who do not qualify for COBRA is a private insurance plan, normally known as individual or family plans. These private insurance plans can be much more affordable and offer similar coverage to COBRA insurance for individuals and families who are relatively healthy. In fact, most people save about $600 monthly by signing up for a private health insurance plan.

Likely you are wondering why private insurance is much more affordable than COBRA insurance. The fact is that employer sponsored health insurance plans must cover all people in the office, healthy or not healthy, at risk or not at risk. This drives up the cost for everyone. Since inevitably there will be people on the health insurance plan with major medical needs, the cost increases for everyone. When you sign up for a health insurance plan on your own, you only pay for you and your family. If you are relatively healthy then you can purchase a plan for much less since you aren’t paying for other people’s health needs.

To learn more about other health insurance plans, get a free quote for you or your family and begin exploring the plans available.

COBRA Insurance Laws

Posted on: March 12th, 2012 by Cobra Insurance Guide

People have lots of questions about COBRA Insurance laws and how they impact their choices for health insurance after losing, quitting, or retiring from a job. There are two types of COBRA Insurance laws that people are interested in. First, people want to know about the actual federal COBRA insurance law that lays out eligibility and who can sign up for COBRA insurance. Secondly, people want to learn about COBRA insurance laws regarding what employers must do. We will cover both subjects in this blog posting.

First, let’s take a look at the COBRA insurance laws for eligibility that were laid out in the 1986 federal COBRA insurance law. There are three basic categories laid out in the law that determine who is eligible for COBRA insurance – the type of employer sponsored health insurance plan, the event that caused someone to lose coverage, and the people who are eligible for COBRA coverage.

1. Qualifying Plan: This term refers to the type of group health insurance plan your insurer had. Under the COBRA insurance laws that plan must cover at least 20 employees, or their part time equivalents, for the employee or their family members to be eligible for COBRA insurance.

2. Qualifying Event: This refers to how the employer sponsored group health insurance coverage was lost. Many people think that you are only eligible for COBRA insurance if you are laid off, but in fact you are also eligible under the COBRA insurance laws if you quit your job or retire from your job. Moreover, there are many events that can make family members eligible for COBRA insurance. Some examples are divorce from the covered spouse (even if they continue working at the company), death of the covered spouse, and losing dependent child status. The qualifying event is also an important piece of the law because it outlines the length of time that people are eligible. The general rule of thumb is that COBRA insurance coverage lasts for 18 months but in some cases like divorce for example, benefits can be extended to 36 months in many cases.

3. Qualifying Person: The last piece of the federal COBRA insurance law refers to who is eligible to continue health insurance coverage with COBRA. Basically what the law states is that anyone who was covered during employment can be covered with COBRA. This generally includes the covered employee, spouse, and dependent children. For a retiree, this would include the retiree, retiree’s spouse, or retiree’s dependent children.

Now let’s take a look at the basic COBRA insurance laws for employers.

You must notify employees and spouses that would be covered through the COBRA program of their right to COBRA insurance coverage at the start of the health insurance plan.
You must notify employees and other covered beneficiaries within 14 days of the date that the covered individual(s) qualifies for COBRA insurance. The company is required by law to provide all the necessary forms and documents. Normally this should be through certified mail or in person with a signed form acknowledging they received it.
You must keep accurate records that you properly notified the employees of changes during the policy and at the time of COBRA qualification.
You must track COBRA election periods and the length of time that an employee has been enrolled in coverage under the law.
You must provide invoices to COBRA informing them of the premium payments and any short bill payments. These must be balanced and recorded.
You must keep all records of correspondence regarding COBRA coverage.
If your plan changes, you must notify COBRA, through the entire time of coverage.
You must notify the employee when insurance benefits terminate.

Alabama COBRA Insurance

Posted on: March 9th, 2012 by Cobra Insurance Guide

If you live in Alabama and are considering COBRA insurance, the first place you should always begin your search is with federal COBRA insurance policies. Under the federal COBRA insurance law passed in 1986, people who meet the federal COBRA insurance requirements can choose to continue to keep their employer’s sponsored health insurance plan. That translates to the exact same doctors, prescriptions, co-payments, and deductibles that you had with your Alabama health insurance. Alabama COBRA insurance gives you the option to keep identical insurance however you will have to pay the complete cost for the insurance, normally more than double what you are used to paying.

In many states if you do not qualify for federal COBRA insurance, there are state COBRA insurance plans that will help you to continue to keep your health insurance. These plans, normally known as mini COBRA, are offered in many states for people who work at companies with between 2-19 employees and don’t qualify for federal COBRA. Unfortunately in Alabama there are no mini COBRA plans which means that Alabama residents are only eligible for federal COBRA insurance. Luckily though that isn’t the only health insurance option.

If you find that you do not qualify for COBRA insurance or simply find that COBRA insurance is too expensive, there are many options that you can explore. The health insurance plan that most closely mirrors an employer sponsored health insurance plan are private insurance plans normally called individual or family plans. For healthy families, these plans can be as affordable as $420 monthly, which is much cheaper than COBRA insurance. For folks with preexisting conditions or serious medical needs, these plans may be much more expensive.

COBRA Insurance Alternatives

Posted on: March 7th, 2012 by Cobra Insurance Guide

Losing or quitting your job can be very stressful and on top of that, many people face making difficult decisions about health insurance. While the easiest option for many is to sign up for COBRA insurance if it is an option, upon deeper examination many people learn that COBRA insurance can be quite expensive and may in fact be out of reach for their family. Even if it is not out of reach, an average healthy family spends $8000 extra annually by choosing COBRA insurance. Understanding what other options are out there can help both individuals and families better understand the best choice for their health care and budgetary needs.

Option 1: Individual/Family Health Insurance Plan, Average Monthly Rate: $420
Individual health insurance plans, sometimes called family health insurance plans, are health insurance plans offered through major companies like Blue Cross and Kaiser, that are essentially the same as an employer provided health insurance plan. They are the most comprehensive plans on the market in most cases and can be surprisingly affordable for families and individuals, especially when there are no major health concerns. Many people wonder why these plans can be so much cheaper than COBRA and the reason is actually relatively simple. Under group health insurance plans at employers, the health insurance plan covers everyone employed, whether they are completely healthy, have major medical issues, or are at high risk for major medical health concerns. Due to this fact, group health insurance plans are more expensive because they cover both the healthy individual, who is relatively cheap to insure, and the not so healthy individuals, who are very expensive to insure. When you are relatively healthy, you can get a very good rate on health insurance because you are low risk to the insurance company. It is always worthwhile to get a quote for health insurance before choosing COBRA because many people find that they can save up to 65% monthly by choosing a private plan. You can get a quote below.

Option 2: Short Term or Catastrophic Insurance, Average Monthly Rate: $200
For people who know that they will be employed soon and have health insurance, or for people who only want minimal health insurance because they rarely go to the doctor, short term and catastrophic health insurance plans can be very inexpensive. These plans are normally minimal with high deductibles but they protect you in case anything major happens. Most people find these types of plans for under $200 monthly and sometimes as low as $75 if they are willing to have a high deductible.

Option 3: COBRA insurance, Average Monthly Rate: $1,084
Under COBRA insurance the average family pays around $1100 to keep the exact same coverage as they had with their employer. Many times for people with preexisting conditions or major medical needs, COBRA is the cheapest and best option, since health insurance is expensive and sometimes prohibitive for people with serious health needs. However, if you do not have serious health needs, another health insurance plan will likely be much more affordable and can still provide excellent coverage.

COBRA Insurance and Co-Payments

Posted on: March 5th, 2012 by Cobra Insurance Guide

COBRA insurance is a confusing topic and it can be difficult to sort through all the health insurance jargon and options available to you. This is made even more difficult for most people since they have just lost or quit their job. However, understanding your health insurance options, including COBRA insurance, doesn’t have to be difficult. Once you understand the basics and what you should be looking for, the decision will get much clearer and be much easier for you and your family.

One major part of this decision and a question we hear frequently from readers is the question of co-payments and how co-pays are affected by signing up for COBRA insurance. We are also often asked how co-payments should factor into a decision to choose a COBRA insurance alternative.

First, let’s look at exactly what a copay, or co-payment, actually is. A copay is an amount predetermined by the insurance company that you must pay up front for medical services. For example, you may have a copay of $25 for doctor visits, $50 for specialists visits, $100 for emergency room visits, $10 for generic prescriptions, and $20 for name brand prescriptions with your health insurance plan. Co-payments vary between insurance companies and between services. Once you pay the copay in most cases, the rest of the cost is covered by the health insurance company. Health insurance companies started using copays to share some of the medical cost and also to prevent unnecessary medical treatment .

For COBRA insurance, copays will remain exactly the same as they were when you were employed due to the fact that COBRA insurance simply continues the previous insurance that you had. That means that if you are used to paying $10 for all prescriptions, you will continue to pay $10 with COBRA insurance. If the health insurance co-payments change at your previous employer, they will also change for you.

When looking at alternative health insurance plans to COBRA insurance, which can cost over $10,000 annually for families, many people immediately shy away from any plan with high co-payments since they aren’t used to them. But in many cases, even if you take a higher copay cost, you can still save thousands of dollars by choosing a private insurance plan. Here’s how.

Let’s imagine that by signing up for COBRA insurance, your healthy family of four will spend $1000 a month for health insurance. Included in that plan are co-payments of $10 each for prescriptions and all doctor visits. On average your family visits the doctor 20 times a year and fills 5 prescriptions. (Likely your family visits the doctor MUCH less than this!) That means with COBRA insurance, you would pay $12,000 annually in premiums and an additional $250 on copays. That means your total COBRA insurance cost for the year is $12,250.

Now let’s imagine that your family finds a private health insurance plan that costs $425 monthly (based on the national average for insurance costs) but it comes with co-payments of $100 for prescriptions and doctor visits. This number is much higher than the national norm but will help show how much you can save even with high co-payments. Given your family visits the doctor 20 times annually and fills 5 prescriptions, you will spend a total of $2500 on copays. When we add that to the annual cost of the premium, $5,100, the total health insurance cost is $7,600. You are still saving $4,650 by using private health insurance!! And that is with extremely high co-payments and more doctor visits than most families have.

Want to find out how much you can save with private health insurance? Get a free, no obligation quote and compare that to the cost of COBRA insurance below.

How Does COBRA Insurance Work?

Posted on: December 2nd, 2011 by Cobra Insurance Guide

COBRA Insurance and Retirement Many people have heard of COBRA insurance but few people actually know how it works. Essentially COBRA insurance works by allowing someone to choose to keep their employer’s health insurance plan after leaving a job, losing a job, or quitting a job. It was established to help families and make sure they they didn’t suddenly lose health insurance if someone lost their job. Under the current federal COBRA insurance regulations, most people who lose or quit their job and work for a company with at least 20 employees who receive health insurance will qualify for COBRA. This benefit also extends of family members.

Once you sign up and elect COBRA insurance, it works just like your prior health insurance plan did since it is the exact same plan. You can visit the same doctors, will have the same co-payments and deductibles, and same prescription expenses. The main difference that you will see with COBRA is that you will now have to pay the entire cost of the insurance plus a 2% administration fee. For many people this will be 50-75% more than what they paid when they were employed. The COBRA insurance coverage lasts for 18 months in most circumstances.

How Do I Apply For COBRA Insurance?

Posted on: November 30th, 2011 by Cobra Insurance Guide

People holding hands Many people wonder to themselves, “How Do I Apply For COBRA Insurance?” after losing a job or quitting their job. It is already a stressful time and this can be one additional hassle that people worry about. Luckily, applying for COBRA insurance is extremely easy and just takes a small amount of paperwork.

1. Get the COBRA Insurance Election form from your employer: In most cases your employer will provide you with a COBRA election form within 14 days of your health insurance ending. This form contains the names of the people who are eligible for COBRA, the cost, and the date by which you must apply. You can always ask your employer for the form to get it sooner and apply for COBRA.

2. Complete the form: Next you just need to complete the form in its entirety to apply for COBRA insurance. Include the names of everyone who is signing up and review the form.

3. Mail the COBRA application form in with the premium: Finally you will have 60 days to apply for COBRA. Once you are ready, mail in the form with the premium payment.

COBRA Insurance Premiums

Posted on: November 28th, 2011 by Cobra Insurance Guide

Nurse and Patient An important part of anyone’s decision making process with COBRA insurance is understanding COBRA insurance premiums. Here is a list of important things to know about your COBRA health insurance premiums. Learn how to calculate your COBRA insurance premiums here.

COBRA insurance premiums are the full cost of the health insurance plan, without any employer help
COBRA insurance premiums usually cost up t0 80% than what an employee is used to paying
COBRA insurance premiums include a 2% administration fee
If COBRA premiums are not paid on time then the plan will be cancelled in most cases
You must pay the premiums for the entire retroactive period when you sign up

How Do I Get COBRA Insurance?

Posted on: November 25th, 2011 by Cobra Insurance Guide

Woman reading paper Many people wonder how they can go about getting COBRA insurance and surprisingly the process to get COBRA insurance is actually quite simple.

1. Ask your employer for the COBRA insurance election form: Although your employer is mandated by law to provide you with the COBRA insurance election form, it is always beneficial just to ask for it. This will ensure you will get it as soon as possible. This form will contain information about the monthly cost as well.

2. Review the form and determine if COBRA insurance is the best option: When you receive the form review it carefully to make sure you understand who is eligible, the cost, and the date by which you must enroll. Then explore alternatives to make sure COBRA is right for you.

3. Determine which family members will enroll in COBRA insurance: You do not have to enroll every family member in COBRA to get COBRA insurance. Make careful decisions about who to enroll and consider if anyone has alternative options for health insurance.

4. Mail in the election form within 60 days: You have 60 days to mail in the election form. Make sure to mail it in on time and you will also need to send in the premium.

5. Pay your COBRA premiums on time: COBRA insurance can be cancelled any time the premiums are not paid on time. Make sure that you always pay the insurance premium on time and reach out to your health insurance provider if you do not think you will be able to.

It’s that simple to get COBRA insurance.

What is COBRA Insurance Coverage?

Posted on: November 23rd, 2011 by Cobra Insurance Guide

Nurse and computer This is a question that frequently surfaces anytime someone is considering leaving a job or gets laid off from their job. COBRA insurance coverage in very basic language, is the ability to keep your current health insurance. Under the law, COBRA insurance coverage, means that you can choose to maintain your current health insurance plan (the exact same plan) at full cost to you for up to 18 months in most cases. So with COBRA insurance coverage, you keep the exact same doctor, medications, etc since you are just paying the full cost of the plan you had with your employer.

However, in order to get COBRA insurance coverage you also must meet the federal requirements for COBRA. There are three requirements and most people and families find that they are eligible an can keep their health insurance.

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