The Wall Street Journal has a great article out about how to keep your health insurance if you wind up losing your job.
Here’s what they recommend.
Your spouse’s employer. Suppose you and your spouse both have full-time jobs. You’re both covered through your employer, so your spouse waives the coverage offered through work. Then you lose your job, and the insurance that came with it.
COBRA. This is the classic option for staying covered when you get laid off. For 18 months, you can keep the insurance you had through your work — but you have to pay the whole premium, including the part formerly subsidized by your company.
Private and public options. If you’re relatively healthy, you may be able to find coverage on the private insurance market for less than you’ll pay through COBRA. Don’t be shy about considering high-deductible plans, which come with a lower premium than traditional coverage. Sure, a $10,000 deductible may sound like a lot. But a high deductible plan could save you from bankruptcy if you get seriously ill and wind up in the hospital.
For details, check out the article by clicking here.
One of the caveats I've heard about private health insurance plans is that not all doctors accept them. If you're looking to keep the same doctor, you may want to check with him or her first to find out if private insurance plans are accepted.
Has anyone found any other ways to keep health insurance in a down economy?
Private health insurance
We were faced with a situation like this when my husband was laid off as a result of a domino effect upon his company (a Blue Chip, at that) following 9/11/01. He was out of work for nearly two years, and I was on contract. Fortunately, I soon signed on with a consulting firm that offered health insurance, so we were able to avoid going on COBRA.
However, our younger son, although still in college, reached the age at which he would be automatically dropped from our coverage. We had been searching for private insurance to fill the gap for him, since he was not working full-time. Our life insurance agent told us about Alliance, a membership-based organization that offers a combination of discounts on services and health insurance plans.
We had both our son and daughter put on the program and it worked out pretty well. Cost wise, it was about the same as our company coverage would have been. They were able to use their plan with our regular doctors and kept it until they both had full-time jobs and company coverage.
Alliance may not be available in all states. But, if it's a viable option, it might be worth looking into.
Posted: Thu., June 26, 2008, 07:44 pm
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