Most companies offer their employees health insurance. After all, that is one of the number one perk that employees request - and for good reason. The cost of getting your own health insurance can be prohibitively expensive and sometimes impossible to qualify for. As long as you have your job, all is well, but what do you do if you loose your job?
What are your options?
The first thing you want to do is make sure that you look at all your options before you leave your job. With some plans, if you do not elect a medical insurance option for non-employees before you leave or sometimes within 30 days, then you may loose an important option.
The first and usually best option is to check with your spouse's group insurance plan. If your spouse is part of a group health insurance through his or her employer, you may be able to qualify for health insurance without any or with very few health questions to answer. This option tends to be the most economical and easiest.
COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, which became law in 1986) is the most common option used by former employees to retain health insurance. Keep in mind that you will most likely have to pay for the entire premium. Employers are not likely to subsidize former employees' health insurance so be prepared for some possibly high premiums. If you have health issues, COBRA may be your best option. If you feel premiums for the health insurance are too high, do not opt out of the COBRA option until you have secured an alternative plan. COBRA may not be available to you if you quit your job, only if you are laid off. Note that Obama Care may have an effect on how much you need to pay while on COBRA, so please ask your employer. Under the new law, your employer may have to partially subsidies your health insurance payments (the employer gets re-reimbursed by the government later). The time limit on this subsidy may only be 12 months.
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