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Insurance After COBRA

Posted on: March 16th, 2012 by Cobra Insurance Guide

insurance after COBRACOBRA insurance only lasts 18 months for most people and when the end of your COBRA insurance is quickly approaching, many people begin to think about insurance after COBRA.  There are many options for insurance after COBRA but it is important to think through all the options carefully to make sure you choose the right plan for you and your family.  We always recommend starting by getting a free health insurance quote so you have a general idea of what options are out there for you and your family. Taking 5-10 minutes to fill out a quote will open your eyes to what is on the market, the price ranges, and what you should be thinking about for insurance after COBRA.

Option 1:  Private Health Insurance

Then most common insurance that people get after COBRA is private health insurance.  This is normally through a major company and there are health insurance plans of all types depending on your health needs and budget.  The most comprehensive plans available are private individual and family plans which generally offer plans that are very similar to what you had on COBRA insurance.  There are HMOs and PPOs available as well as varying levels of co-payments and deductibles depending on your needs.

The second most popular type of private health insurance plan that people get after COBRA is a short term health insurance plan.  These plans normally have high deductibles and are meant to help cover you in the short term.  These plans can last anywhere from 1 day to about 1 year and normally only cover emergencies.  They are built to help keep you covered in between jobs or other health insurance plans.

The other popular insurance after COBRA is catastrophic health insurance plans which only cover emergencies.  These plans tend to be very inexpensive and only cover medical emergencies.  The deductibles are generally very high and they do not include doctor visits or other care in most cases.  They usually are very affordable since the coverage is minimal.

Option 2:  Government Health Insurance

It is always wise to look into government health insurance as an option for insurance after COBRA.  Many times adults and especially children can be covered by government health insurance plans is your income is below a certain level.  These plans can be offered by the federal or state government.  In addition if you are at or near to retirement age, there is government health insurance you can use.

Option 3:  Health Insurance From New Employment

Finally you can look for a new job that includes health insurance.  Many people do not remember to ask about health insurance when looking at a job but it should be an important consideration.  Even if the job isn’t exactly what you are looking for in the long term, taking a job that has health insurance, especially if you or someone in your family has a preexisting condition can be a smart move.  There are many part time jobs that come with health insurance like working at Starbucks, driving a school bus, or serving as in aid in a public school.  Look at all your options.

 

Posted in COBRA Insurance, COBRA Insurance and Medicare, COBRA Insurance and Quitting Your Job, COBRA Insurance Costs, COBRA Insurance Eligibility, COBRA Insurance Guides | Comments Off on Insurance After COBRA

COBRA Insurance Cost Reduction

Posted on: March 14th, 2012 by Cobra Insurance Guide

reduce cobra insurance costsLosing 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.

 

Posted in COBRA and Preexisting Conditions, COBRA Insurance, COBRA Insurance Costs, COBRA Insurance Guides, COBRA Insurance Information | Comments Off on COBRA Insurance Cost Reduction

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.

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COBRA Insurance Laws

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

COBRA Insurance and RetirementPeople 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.

 

Posted in COBRA Insurance, COBRA Insurance Eligibility, COBRA Insurance Guides, COBRA Insurance Information, COBRA Insurance Regulations | Comments Off on COBRA Insurance Laws

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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.

Posted in COBRA and Preexisting Conditions, COBRA Insurance, COBRA Insurance Costs, COBRA Insurance Guides, COBRA Insurance Information, Health Insurance | Comments Off on COBRA Insurance Alternatives

COBRA Insurance and Co-Payments

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

cobra-insurance-copaymentsCOBRA 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.

Posted in COBRA Insurance, COBRA Insurance Costs, COBRA Insurance Guides, COBRA Insurance Information, Health Insurance | Comments Off on COBRA Insurance and Co-Payments

COBRA Insurance and Small Business

Posted on: February 28th, 2012 by Cobra Insurance Guide

Stethoscope and PenAnyone running a small business knows the difficult nature of making health insurance decisions for your company and employees. Many times supplying health insurance to employees can be cost prohibitive, especially when the small business owner can use a spouse’s insurance themselves, and save both the cost and headache of finding a health insurance plan and bearing a significant part of the cost of the insurance for employees. However, in today’s economy it is important to know the impact of your health insurance decisions as a small business owner, specifically in regards to COBRA insurance and how your decisions will impact your employees.

Under the federal COBRA insurance law, employees are eligible for COBRA insurance if there are at least 20 people, or their part time equivalents, covered on the employer’s health plan. That means that with COBRA insurance the employee and their family will be able to continue to keep their health insurance for up to 18 months in most cases, if your company meets that federal mandate. As a small business owner, if your company has at least 20 employees on your health insurance plan, or their part time equivalents, then you are required by law to provide COBRA insurance paperwork to your employees and their family members should they be laid off, quit, or meet the other federal COBRA insurance qualifying conditions.

If you do not have 20 employees and therefore do not meet the federal COBRA insurance statute, that does not mean that you definitively do not have any COBRA insurance responsibilities. Many states have mini COBRA insurance laws that apply to companies with fewer than 20 employees, most often for companies with between 2-19 employees. In the case that you are a small business owner who offers health insurance, and you live in a state with a mini COBRA law, you will need to make sure that you provide the right COBRA insurance paperwork to any covered employees, and their families, should they be laid off, quit, or otherwise meet the state COBRA conditions.

In both cases, if you are required by law to provide COBRA insurance election forms to your employees, then you afford them the opportunity to continue to receive health insurance for 18 months in most cases. However, should they sign up for COBRA insurance, you will no longer be financially responsible for their health insurance any longer. With COBRA, the entire cost of the health insurance plus a 2% administration fee, will be passed onto the employee and they will work directly with the group health insurance plan for billing and questions. They will continue to have the exact same health insurance plan with the same coverage, prescriptions, doctors etc.

As an employer it is also important to know that any changes to the group health insurance plan that you make will affect any previous employees who are still using the health insurance plan with COBRA. If you change group health insurance companies, the previous employee will have an option to continue with any changes. Similarly, if you stop offering health insurance or close own completely, the employee will no longer be able to continue COBRA insurance coverage.

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COBRA Insurance

Posted on: January 27th, 2012 by Cobra Insurance Guide

COBRA Insurance and the NFL – COBRA Insurance Benefits Employees in All SectorsCOBRA insurance, short for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, is a piece of legislation that was passed in 1986 to ensure that families would suddenly go without health insurance when someone lost their job, or even voluntarily left their job. Many people mistake COBRA as a particular type of insurance plan, but in actuality it is the name of the law that lets you keep your current health insurance plan. So what is COBRA insurance exactly? Well quite simply, it lets you continue to use your employer’s group health insurance plan for up to 18 months after you lose or quit your job. It extends to spouses and dependents. Essentially what this means is that the COBRA Insurance law lets you keep the exact same health insurance coverage for you and anyone that was on your plan.

So what’s the catch? Well under the COBRA insurance law you are responsible for paying the entire premium yourself. For most folks that means that COBRA insurance will cost at least double what they are currently paying. Why? Because most employers subsidize the cost of health insurance and pay up to 80% of the cost for their employees. Under COBRA insurance you will be responsible for paying that entire premium, which means both what you paid and what your employer paid. Additionally there is a 2% administration cost for federal COBRA insurance.

Furthermore, not everyone is eligible for COBRA insurance or will find that COBRA is the best health care option for them. There are three basic requirements for COBRA insurance that must be fulfilled in order to qualify. They include the type of group health insurance plan your employer had, how you lost your insurance, and who is eligible. Many people also are unaware that COBRA insurance coverage can also extend to spouses who are getting divorced and therefore losing coverage or children who no longer qualifying once they turn 26.

COBRA insurance can be a great option for many people, especially anyone with a preexisting health condition, but it isn’t for everyone. In a recent study, they determined that healthy individuals and families actually paid almost double what they needed to with COBRA insurance as opposed to a privately priced plan. No matter what your condition, age, or financial status, it is always wise to get quotes for alternative health insurance options so you can find the best plan for you.

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Cal-COBRA Insurance

Posted on: December 5th, 2011 by Cobra Insurance Guide

Cal-COBRA InsuranceCal COBRA Insurance is a state run California COBRA Insurance program mostly meant for people who do not qualify for federal COBRA coverage. Under the Cal COBRA Plan people who work at companies with fewer than 20 employees can qualify for Cal COBRA and continue to keep their health insurance plan from their employer. Here are the answers to some common questions about Cal-COBRA.

1. Who can sign up for Cal-COBRA?
In most situations, employees as well as their spouse and children can sign up for Cal-COBRA and continue their insurance coverage. This normally applies to anyone who was covered under the employer’s plan. However it is good to keep in mind that the following conditions will make people ineligible for Cal-COBRA:

  • Finding coverage with another group health insurance plan
  • Becoming eligible for the federal COBRA insurance plan
  • Qualifying for Medicare or Medi-Cal

2. What “qualifying events” normally qualify someone for Cal COBRA insurance?
The most common qualifyng events that qualify an employee or family member for Cal COBRA are death of the covered employee, when the employee loses or quits their job, divorce or separation from the covered employee, losing status as a dependent child, or when the covered employee becomes eligible for Medicare.

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