On March 11, 2011, representative Anthony Weiner of New York and Barbara Boxer of California introduced new legislation to the House and the Senate, respectively, to ensure that the LGBTQ community would be eligible for COBRA insurance in a bill called the Equal Access to COBRA Act. In sharing the act, Barbara Boxer who submitted a similar bill to the Senate in 2010, that, said “All of our families deserve equal access to health insurance…This bill would help ensure that domestic partners and their families will be able to keep their health coverage if their partner loses their job.” It marks a major win for LGBTQ communities so that they also in this hard economic time have access to the health insurance benefits provided under the COBRA insurance legislation passed in 1985.
Currently, most same sex partnerships are denied COBRA insurance benefits for spouses, unless they live in a state they allows same sex civil unions and marriages. The Human Rights Campaign recently also came out in support of this legislation, saying, “In these troubled economic times, social safety-net benefits like COBRA continuation coverage are even more important to American families. LGBTQ people should have the equal ability to maintain those critical benefits for their families during difficult times.”
If you recently lost your job or quit your job and are curious about your employer’s requirement according to the COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985), there are two main requirements you should be aware of so you can make sure that your employer is fulfilling their legal obligation.
In 1996, Congress passed a bill called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, HIPAA for short, that was passed to protect consumers in four ways. First, under HIPAA, employers are limited in their ability to exclude health insurance coverage due to a pre-existing condition. Secondly, it provides added opportunities to sign up in a group medical insurance plan if you lose other health insurance coverage or experience particular life events. Thirdly, under HIPAA, protects employees, their spouses, and their dependents from discrimination from a health insurance policy due to pre-existing conditions, genetics, and previous claims. Finally, HIPAA guarantees that certain individuals can renew and have access to medical insurance plans. Essentially, HIPAA ensures that people with pre-existing health conditions can get health insurance. So how does HIPAA work with COBRA insurance? Basically there are five key things that you should know about HIPAA and COBRA insurance or in simpler terms, COBRA insurance and pre-existing conditions.
Unfortunately under the current COBRA insurance laws, if at anytime your company stops providing health insurance to employees due to closing, bankruptcy, or other reasons, your COBRA insurance continuation will also end. The law only extends COBRA benefits assuming that the company still is providing health insurance. When this stops, like if a company closes, you can no longer keep that insurance plan with COBRA. You will not, as you likely expected be covered for the entire 18 months. You health insurance will end at the same time it does for all employees.
Many people don’t realize that you are eligible for COBRA Insurance benefits and to maintain your health insurance under the COBRA insurance law whether you are laid off from your job or if you quit. The law covers any voluntarily or involuntarily loss of employment as long as there is no evidence of gross misconduct. So if you quit, what should you be asking your employer when you turn in your resignation and during your final days on the job. There are some important questions to ask to ensure you have the option to continue your health insurance coverage under COBRA
The cost of COBRA insurance is based on your current health insurance premium, both your cost and the cost your company subsidizes or pays, plus a 2% administration fee under the COBRA insurance federal law. For many people this will be substantially more than they are used to pay since most employers pay for anywhere between 40%-100% of health insurance costs depending on the company. So what does it really cost, let’s look at three examples.
Are you going to immediately begin looking for new employment after losing your job or quitting your job? If so, signing up for COBRA insurance immediately may not be the best option for you. Under the current COBRA legislation you have 60 days or 2 months to determine if you would like to elect COBRA insurance coverage. Then, if you decide to continue your medical insurance under COBRA, your health insurance will be retroactive back to the day you lost your job. So what does this mean for you? This means two critical things that could dramatically reduce your costs within those first 60 days.
Under the current laws, most same sex couples do not have the right to COBRA insurance unless the state in which they live allows them to be married in a same sex civil union. Therefore only states that recognize same sex marriage/civil unions would cover the same sex partner under the federal COBRA law which requires that the qualifying dependent is a spouse. Some states that currently allow same sex couples to continue health insurance under COBRA insurance laws for the former employee and the spouse are Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the District of Columbia.
Many people do not know that if they qualified for the 65% reduction in COBRA expenses under the federal stimulus package, they may actually be responsible for repaying the entire amount or part of the amount depending on their income. For most people this will not be the case, however if your income is high enough, you may have to repay this at tax time. Luckily, the math is fairly easy but it will not be apparent right away in most tax software programs (i.e. a question will not pop up asking you if you pay COBRA premiums or received the subsidy). It is extremely important to make sure this is captured correctly so you do not incur expenses and late fees at a later date.
RSS Feed