Losing your job and temporary insurance, other issues

[bengal]

So I'm losing my job in about a month. Just got the word. I haven't had temporary insurance since I left school (and went off my parents' plan). What has worked for you guys? Did anyone take the station's COBRA plan? Also, how long were you out of work?

Just looking for some hope here, some tips on what worked for others. Also, anyone hiring, my personal website is at the bottom! Hehe...

[Jane Craig]

Best of luck in your search. I do recommend taking COBRA. It's expensive, but going without health insurance is just too big a risk. Even someone who is young and healthy could be in an accident or...

Keep us posted on the hunt, please.

[Bandit]

Bengal, I'm very sorry to hear you are losing your job. Best of luck in your search.

I'm with Jane - go with COBRA. It's very expensive, but it's worth it in case something unexpected comes up.

[Spike]

When I left my job, COBRA was going to be nearly $500 per month for just me as a single person. About that same time, however, my state's BlueCross BlueShield was offering an open enrollment for what amounts to catastrophic coverage only, at $167 per month. My deductible is $1000, so practically nothing is covered except catastrophic illness or accident. But I rarely go to the doctor, having been only once in the last ten years even when I had really good health coverage. Thus, $167 per month for the catastrophic coverage was a much better deal for me than $500 per month for coverage that I wasn't using.

If you don't expect to go to the doctor that often and just want to protect yourself against disaster, look for something like that.

One other option I've been considering is getting insured through school. As a student, I can buy the school's medical plan for under $400 per year. The drawback is that I would have to use the university's hospital system for everything. Having seen how they run things, that scares me a bit, so I have dragged my feet on enrolling. On the other hand, since I rarely visit the doctor, I don't guess it would matter that much.

[east coast producer]

My COBRA when I moved on from my last job ran $284/mo for a single person. I kept it for a month, then cancelled it. Now I'm rolling the dice going without insurance, but I'm young, which makes me invincible, right? :)

[TVMattNYC]

So I'm losing my job in about a month. Just got the word. I haven't had temporary insurance since I left school (and went off my parents' plan). What has worked for you guys? Did anyone take the station's COBRA plan? Also, how long were you out of work?

Just looking for some hope here, some tips on what worked for others. Also, anyone hiring, my personal website is at the bottom! Hehe...

If you're a member of any of the entertainment unions, you can purchase low-cost basic health insurance from a company in NYC that caters to the entertainment community, and is about half of what COBRA costs.

Call your union rep and ask about it.

[Charlie Brown]

take it. I didn't when it happened to me. BIG mistake.

[rootboyslim]

Look closley into this. I think SPike offers great advice. ALso, I seem to recall you can wait 30 or 60 days to sign up for COBRA and it is retoractive. I could be wrong, so look closely into this.

[Pregnant Reporter]

That's great advice about shopping the state plans.

Also, if you went to a major university, check if the alumni association offers group insurance. My first job was part time and I wasn't eligible for benefits, but actually got better coverage through my alumni association. If you went to a large university, there may be enough people who take advantage of it to make it a huge group plan with really good rates.

Good luck to you!

[NYC Street]

By all means check out the COBRA rates, but they're likely to be high. Then check http://aftra.com/benefits/supplemental.htm even if you're not a member. Some of the supplemental plans do not require union membership.

However, be careful. Make sure the plan you choose offers sufficient benefits and doesn't have deductibles so high that the insurance becomes a sucker bet.

[TVSweetie]

You can take 45 days to decide if you want to use Cobra. I filled out my information and faxed it to them just in case...and never paid a dime. I only needed to cover a little more than a month between jobs, so it worked out great.

Better to have the coverage ready to go if you need it rather than dealing with all that in the emergency room.

They'll send a bill each month but you ONLY have to pay if you use it. And yes, it is retroactive. If you need it after the first month, then you pay for the first AND second month.

If you never use it, it cancels itself after 45 days.

Good luck..

[Consider This]

They'll send a bill each month but you ONLY have to pay if you use it.

I'm not sure what this means.

I know it does NOT mean that you only have to pay for your coverage in months you use your insurance. If you stop paying for COBRA it ends and you cannot resume it again.

If Sweetie meant that if you elect COBRA coverage then find other insurance, you don't have to keep paying for COBRA, that's correct. But if you want to keep your COBRA coverage, you have to pay each month.

[TAFKA wacowx]

I vote for 'catastrophic" if you have access to it. Honestly, this is what health insurance used to be...'hospitalization' is what it was called. We all just paid to go to the doctor and used insurance for accidents and hospital trips. Then someone came up with the idea of managed healthcare and HMOs and now people are spooked about paying more than $10 (co-pay)to see a doctor and those doctors end up with so much more paperwork than they ever had before....and ended up having to charge more for visits, simply to be able to afford to hire extra people to deal with insurance paperwork....some of the major problems with our current healthcare system.

I had a 2-year or so period without insurance. Lucky I didn't have major health issues, but I was comfortable paying about $100 bucks for a doctor to rid me of a nasty flu bug (medicines included).

Unless you REALLY need a lot of medical care for a doctor every month, paying $500 or more a month is steep compared to under $150 for 'catastropic' coverage. Check with local Blue Cross/Blue Shield offices.

[east coast producer]

I'm not sure what this means.

I know it does NOT mean that you only have to pay for your coverage in months you use your insurance. If you stop paying for COBRA it ends and you cannot resume it again.

If Sweetie meant that if you elect COBRA coverage then find other insurance, you don't have to keep paying for COBRA, that's correct. But if you want to keep your COBRA coverage, you have to pay each month.

She means you have 45 days to enroll in coverage, which is retroactive to the day you lost it. If you enroll at 45 days, you don't have to send payment immediately with your enrollment election. They'll bill. If it turns out by the time you get the bill to seal the deal that you don't need the coverage to pay any medical expense since you lost you employer-sponsored plan, just let don't remit payment. You'll end COBRA, but you stretched it out the enrollment period to two months or more just in case.

[Wise Old Producer]

Spike speaks the truth.

The cost of COBRA will eat you alive.

Please check into what's available from the Blues plan in your state. Most offer some sort of high-deductible, low cost plan-- specifically designed for what are called "young invincibles"... folks who need to go to the doctor maybe once a year, but need insurance in case they ever have a skiing accident or a car wreck. It'll cap your costs if you end up in the hospital. Depending on your age, you can get decent coverage for less than $100 a month--- in some cases, as low as $60.

To see an example, check out the Blues plan in California. They call their product: Tonik. www.tonik.com (http://www.tonik.com) . As you'll see, the coverage is available in a number of states. Nebraska also has a product called "Blue Basics".

These are plans that you can afford to keep as long as you need to. Good luck in your job search.

[+SN]

So I'm losing my job in about a month. Just got the word. I haven't had temporary insurance since I left school (and went off my parents' plan). What has worked for you guys? Did anyone take the station's COBRA plan? Also, how long were you out of work?

Yes, because it was the best option for me at the time. It covered everything (excellent medical, vision and dental coverage) for about $325.00 a month. I had that COBRA for about 10 months. It was still worth it just in case something happened. I was fired the week after Christmas in 2005 and signed up for unemployment in the state of New York that following Monday(on-line). I got $350.00 clear a week right thru July of 2006 while looking for work at other stations. I was also lucky enough to get a severance package. I did finally get another 'better' job in September of 2006.


Just looking for some hope here, some tips on what worked for others. Also, anyone hiring, my personal website is at the bottom! Hehe...

Also, if COBRA is a bit expensive have you checked out this website? This may be a better option. It is a good site.
www.ehealthinsurance.com

I wish you the best and hope to see you employed in a better situation as soon as possible.

+SN

[A M Anchor]

I called my insurance guy who handles my house and my car insurance. He offered a catastropic plan for only $150 a month.. no doctors visits covered, no prescription drugs, high deductables... but it worked for me for a few months. My current job didn't start health benefits until you'd been an employee for more than 4 months, so I needed something in the short term. My COBRA was going to be $397 a month. Did the cheapo plan, and it worked out great.

[Galaxian]

I went eight months without insurance, after I lost a job. God himself must have been watching over me, because for those eight months, I didn't get in a car crash, develop cancer, or have my arm sliced off by a randomly-swinging blade. I had the opportunity to go with COBRA, but it cost too much money, and at that point in my life, my money was already tied up in student loans.

I was able to make it thanks to my parents, who both work in the medical field, and were great sources of medical advice (i.e. stay away from randomly-swinging blades).

[mothball]

Insurance is one of the reasons I stayed so long in TV after I was ready to go. I was scared to death of the crazy plans out there.

Fortunately, my spouse was able to pick me up... so we're taking a financial hit of about $100 more a month for my coverage (which makes sense on the discount I get on prescriptions). It's made writing for a living a whole lot less scary.