<p>Happydad’s entire division was laid off last week. COBRA will eat up all of the unemployment benefits and then some, so we need to pin down another option pretty quickly. Monday I’m calling Towson to see if Happykid can still join the university-sponsored plan. I work less than half-time, so probably cannot join my company’s plan, and it may be as expensive as the COBRA.</p>
<p>All links and advice truly appreciated!</p>
<p>Once again I am so glad Happykid is at an affordable in-state U and that we have money in the bank. It will be tight, but we can make it through about 12 months provided there are no major health issues.</p>
<p>Thanking you all in advance.</p>
<p>Go to the website of the carrier you have now–Blue Cross or whomever and do a quote on individual insurance plans.</p>
<p>I don’t know if there’s something like this in Maryland, but in MA it’s there’s a Health Connector–basically a health insurance exchange. You put in your zip code, age, family
size, etc. It also gathers information to determine if you are eligible for subsidized health insurance. After you’ve entered this information, you get a list of health insurance plans for which you are eligible. My D and her husband used it to buy health insurance right after they both finished graduate school and weren’t covered by student insurance or an employer health plan. </p>
<p>Looks like there’s something in MD. See below.</p>
<p>[Maryland</a> State Health Insurance Exchange](<a href=“http://www.healthinsurance.org/maryland-state-health-insurance-exchange]Maryland”>Maryland health insurance marketplace guide 2023 | healthinsurance.org)</p>
<p>Each state is different is what insurance is offered. We buy individual health insurance (I"m no longer considered an employee and it is just my husband and I in his company, so we were forced to buy individual health insurance) and I’m sorry to tell you that it may not be any cheaper than COBRA. Hopefully you will get better news in your state. We had 2 companies to choose from and very few options. </p>
<p>If you are Christians, you may want to seriously look into some of the Christian health-sharing plans out there like Medi-Share. </p>
<p>Wishing you well. BTDT, I can so relate.</p>
<p>health insurance exchange</p>
<p>Oh how I wish my state had this!! Living in NJ we had almost no options. BCBS is agressively pushing out small business owners from their group policies.</p>
<p>happymom,</p>
<p>I’m very sorry to hear that your H was laid off. Was this expected or totally out of the blue? I hope that he will be able to find another job in the near future. My brother was unemployed for 1-1/2 years. His entire unemployment check went to pay for COBRA.</p>
<p>Somewhat out of the blue. They knew that vendors weren’t always getting paid on time, but of course no one wants to expect the worse, and everyone has something more pressing (or more interesting) to do right now rather than update resumes and read the classifieds. I’m guilty myself - I like my not too demanding but still interesting part-time job, and I love the flexibilty it allows in my life. However, I have to step it up now too or things will be really ugly in the summer of 2014.</p>
<p>I am so sorry you are going through this! Are you over 50? I believe AARP may have some options.</p>
<p>I had thought of AARP, but I hadn’t checked into that yet. Those plans are included in the list that comes up from the Maryland health exchange website. Wow! Evidently there are 80 plans officially listed that could work for me. LOL. I do have research to do.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>Do you have pre-existing conditions that would disqualify you from an individual insurance policy? If so, then you may be limited to COBRA policies until either (a) when you can buy a policy without pre-existing condition limitations on the exchange, or (b) the COBRA policy is exhausted or is terminated by the employer, in which case you can buy an individual policy under HIPAA based on your previous group insurance coverage history.</p>
<p>Search at ehealthinsurance.com</p>
<p>No pre-existing conditions at all, and in Maryland all health insurers are required to accept us because we have previous “creditable coverage”. Right now it looks like we’ll hang onto COBRA for a month or two while looking for a more affordable plan that will work for us. And unfortunately to stay with our current carrier, COBRA is the only option. They have no individual plans in Maryland.</p>
<p>You don’t need to stay with your current carrier–it’s just usually a little easier and less paperwork for you because they have your medical records already. For COBRA, the company has 14 days to get you the COBRA information, you have 31 days from the time employment ceases to “sign up” for COBRA. You then have 32 days to pay your first premium–so basically you have 63 days from the last day of employment to pay for COBRA. It is designed this way, on purpose, for people moving from one job to another. If you don’t need to use your insurance during that time, don’t pay for it. Refill prescriptions before your regular coverage stops, etc. If something comes up and say someone has to get an appendix out, send in the premium. You can effectively save 2 months of insurance premiums by doing this. COBRA is REALLY expensive. You can typically get family coverage for less. Often your deductibles are higher but it sounds like you are a healthy family and can select higher deductibles. Worst case if something happens, you set up a payment plan with the hospital.</p>
<p>If you wait longer than that 63 days, that is when you have a “gap” in coverage and are subject to preexisting condition clauses, etc. I would research coverage now, get apply for the policies to start on day 60. It does take some time to process the applications so don’t wait to do that. I would suggest getting a plan that is a tax qualified high deductible plan. You can select a deductible up to $11,9000, or less depending on where your comfort level is. Your premiums will be pretty low AND any money (not premiums) you spend will be tax deductible. Also, when you are unemployed, medical expenses, including premiums, are an acceptable expense to tap into 401K or IRA money without penalty. You still pay taxes on that, which is why having the HSA is handy.</p>
<p>Personally I would stay away from ehealthinsurance.com as their premiums tend to be jacked up. Find a local broker to do the research for you. Their commissions are already figured into your premiums whether you use one or not so you might as well have someone else do all the work :D.</p>
<p>UGH . . . I feel so bad for you! Good luck finding health insurance. There is a relatively affordable plan that almost anyone can join if they freelance at anything at all. I’m not sure who provides it. Freelancers’ Union? Freelancers’ Unlimited? Freelancers’ United? Freelancers’ Insurance Plan? I’ll let you know if/when I am able to recall the exact name.</p>
<p>SteveMA -</p>
<p>Thanks for explaining the time-line. I thought it must be something like that, but I didn’t trust my own math.</p>