Cobra Q.

[Bobbi]

Under COBRA, must one accept a policy as it stands or is a person enabled to do a bit of negotiating?

[Gimpy]

Bobbi, Cobra just means you can still have the insurance for a period of time as long as you pay for it. I would think it wouldn't hurt to try and negotiate to your benefit. It's worth a shot!!!

Linda

[Mark N]

Bobbi, It is my understanding that all Cobra is is the ability to continue on with your insurance coverage without being dropped because of your job change. Treat it as any insurance plan you would have on your own. Good luck with the negoitations.

[Kira]

I just started my COBRA coverage through my former employer (effective Feb 1st)... and the way it works here is that you pay the same rate that your employer would've been paying on your behalf... and then you get the same coverage options you would've gotten if you were still working there.

COBRA gives you a lot of protections. It allows you to keep purchasing insurance at the "group" rate that your employer was paying for your coverage while you were working... which is much cheaper than the things you would find if you started looking for individual coverage plans. COBRA also protects you against insurers who try to refuse to cover pre-existing conditions... because, as long as you keep continuous coverage, they can't call them pre-existing. Also, if you do COBRA, then you are guaranteed (I think) to be accepted for an individual policy once your COBRA eligibility ends after 36 months... though they can make the individual policy pretty dang expensive and restrictive, they can't deny you coverage outright.

Your COBRA coverage should be the same insurance as you had while you were working.

At my former place of employment, every October we have the option of switching to a different insurance plan, and then whatever plan we pick is effective on Jan 1st. We have a few different plans to choose from, arranged into three Tiers. The cheapest plans (about 4 of them) are Tier 1, and most people use one of those. There is not a Tier 2 plan in our area right now, but there is a Tier 3 plan that costs a lot more but also gives you more choice about which providers you're going to see. All of my providers (and I have a LOT of them and am very picky about quality) are included on my Tier 1 plan... except I did have to do referrals & pre-approvals to get my muscle biopsy done at a specialized facility in another state.

I learned from my HR person that I still have the option of switching my plan in October, just like everyone else. Also, because I was technically a State employee, the same people oversee our benefits no matter which county we live in. So, if I were to move back to my hometown (same state) so my family can help me out, I could switch to one of the plans offered in that county and wouldn't have to wait until October, since moving counts as a reason to be eligible to switch plans mid-year.

Anyway, this is a really round-about way of saying that, where I work, they do allow you to have the same amount of choice in your coverage during COBRA as they do while you are an active employee.

There are a few things to remember with COBRA, though. First of all, you can only use it for a max of 36 months after you stop working. Then, you have the option of converting to an individual plan without your disease counting as "pre-existing," since you have been continuously covered. However, coverage under these individual plans can be more limited, and they can be much more expensive than group health insurance and/or COBRA. Also, I found out that you have to start your COBRA coverage within a certain time period after you stop working (either 60 or 90 days... don't remember).

[Bobbi]

Thanks very much, Gimpy, Mark & Kira.

COBRA for me will take effect in a couple of months; my former employer is covering the insurance until then.

Before I start paying the coverage/policy, I have been wondering if it can be refined or fine-tuned.


I also need to decide whether to sell my house (which will have roughly a 90-day turn-around from the day of listing - according to a local agent who provided me with area listings) or if I should weather this situation a bit longer. I've had two job offers, only, what's someone gonna say when the person offering the job says: "If I were you, I wouldn't take it. I wouldn't want the job." Well, duh! That pretty much seals the decision.

Like so many others, I never imagined finding myself in this prolonged situation; I've been working since age 14 and am not, at all, accustomed to being out of work. I wake at 4:30 a.m., and spend day after day applying, etc.

The way things are right now, it's more probable (than not) that I'll be listing my house and moving to Oregon. (Friends have offered me half their homes and the only bill they want me to cover is part of the utilities.)

What a major friggin' headache and pain in the ... y'know what.

[suede]

Bobbi,

I can't add to the already good info you have gotten.

I only wanted to say how sad I am to hear of the position you are in, I wish I had great words of wisdom and comfort for you..

I know how you feel though I started working the day after I turned 11 and continued to working for almost 40 years, not unusual to work 2 and 3 jobs at times.

This has been among the hardest adjustments I have had to make in my life..

I wish you the best of luck with which ever choice you make !

Linda

[Bobbi]

((( Thanks, Linda )))

After I posted, I did receive a call that I've been waiting to get for some time now; it's re: a gov't contract that's been pending.

As of today, it's set to be signed (in triplicate) Tuesday afternoon. Depending on what happens during the discussion/signing process, it may affect some decisions favorably.

[Mark N]

Bobbi, like you I have worked since early in my teens and it was difficult to give up working. I hope the gov't contract works for you. When I went on disability We had to move into a house 1/3 the size of our previous home. It has been a good change in life though and I haven't regretted the reduction at all.

[Bobbi]

With the slump that the market is (in my area right now), I'll take a pretty good beating if I have to sell :(. I'll still come out ahead (as opposed to never purchasing), but I'd prefer not needing to sell. I'm sure you went through similar turmoil, Mark.

Worse than selling, however, is that if I relocate it will also mean not having my doctors :(. I totally trust, i.e., my cardiologist, and hope to age right along with him :).