Posted on 04/04/2020 8:30:24 PM PDT by Quick Shot
vanity only
JoSixChip wrote:
“”COBRA is like the snake. If you don’t understand it and don’t set money aside to pay for it, it will bite and bite hard.”
Try buying private insurance, or off the healthcare exchanges. I’ve done both. COBRA is superior.”
How long does Cobra last, 18 months?
Is it easy to get?
Either way, you are on the beach...
Funny thing. I don’t know a single person with this cold virus, but I know a lot of people who have been laid off. My wife and I have gone from trying to help local businesses, to no discretionary spending until we know if we are going to have to help family. I hope the economy picks up fast for you.
A few people have mentioned COBRA for extended health insurance. I relied on it several years ago and when it ran out I HAD to look for an alternate. I found out that I could insure my family for about 1/4 of the price. That would be a priority to start checking now. Also, many are proud that they have never taken unimployment...don’t be, you earned it, it’s your money that a government program requires to be set aside. It is your money. Don’t hesitate to get it back.
Not really meaning to be preachy, YMMV
Get a definitive answer from your HR department. They should have what ‘furloughed’ means in company legal documents. Are you being treated as if you are on an unpaid leave of absence or a terminated employee? If you’re being treated as if you’re on leave, you should be able to continue your benefits while out, paying as you go. If you’re considered terminated, you could elect COBRA continuation for your benefits.
Depending on the size of the company, COBRA may or may not be available. If the company has 20 or more full-time employees, offering benefits, COBRA must be extended to all terminated employees. COBRA costs are 102% of the premium cost. The extra 2% is the COBRA administrators costs.
My wife and I have used a financial planner that specialized in serving employees from the once iconic company from which I retired. I retired when my employer laid off 70% of the Research Labs staff, which included most of my internal clients and my coworkers. It sucked. Our planner gave us great help. This will be important especially if you have some sort of pension plan.
It should mean a temporary lay off with the intent to hire you back.
When it happened to me a few years back, it also meant I did not have to apply for other jobs to get my unemployment. Of course you can if you want to change jobs
Same here - just take unemployment until the job comes back when the stupid government allows businesses to start up again
Here are some starter links. State DOL laws may very a bit.
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/70-flsa-furloughs
The next article explains health benifits.
https://www.allbusiness.com/what-happens-to-employee-benefits-during-a-furlough-12330411-1.html
It seems to me you go with COBRA if you are in the middle of treatment or if it is cheaper than regular insurance. Another reason is to stay off medicaid. Seeking insurance on the exchanges may automatically kick one into expanded medicaid because of a lack of income requirements.
Furlough is a way of retaining a person as an employee of the company while stopping salary and benefit payments. It is a way of preserving the workforce (since it is expensive to recruit and qualify it from scratch) and its company-specific operational experience during a temporary downturn in business. When business picks up, the employer is expected to call the furloughed workforce back in (usually in stages) to ramp up operations. Under normal circumstances, your employment status and pay are the same as when you left.
Since you are not yet terminated as an employee of the company, you might not be able to apply for state unemployment monetary benefits. Usually, a formal letter of dismissal is required; one that states you were not let go due to misconduct and that you did not voluntary leave (quit).
During my career, I was furloughed twice due to contracts closing out and there not being enough on-going work to immediately reassign the team members. In both instances, the company carried us on overhead for about 45 days before letting us know it could not preserve the team (combination of defense analysts, logistics specialists, and engineers) any longer. At that point, they terminated us and gave us the necessary paperwork so we could qualify for state unemployment benefits.
So the initial issue before you is whether or not you can wait until these state mandated shutdowns are lifted. That should be at the end of April.
I understand that certain companies are recruiting now but, unless the job is in an essential industry, actually going to work may also have to wait until permission is given.
The second issue is getting to yes to reopening.
Social distancing, face masks, wipes, disposable gloves, etc. are all very nice. But, even with all these preventive measures implemented, things can’t start getting back to normal until: 1) a COVID-19 rapid diagnostic test is widely distributed and easy to prescribe, and 2) approved and effective treatment(s) are in-place.
This is a minimum. Otherwise the entire cycle of infection (and possibly reinfection ) will begin again and no economy can take repeated cycles of closing , then opening, and then closing again. Frustrating as it will be, this has to be done right the first time.
A vaccine would be nice but that will require time to develop and trial for safety and effectiveness. It will take even longer to administer to everyone. And the economy cannot stay shut down while waiting for all that to occur.
So, let’s see what the leadership comes up with. Then we will know how much risk they want us to take.
Well, did it work? Do you "feel good?"
Regards,
Did they tell you to apply for unemployment? If not, do so anyway.
Also, discovered that for most medical procedures the cash price is about what you would pay as a deductible. So, negotiate. DO NOT go to the emergency room for ordinary treatment as they can charge whatever the heck they want.
Thanks for all the comments
Well, did it work? Do you “feel good?”
No. Out of college for 40 years and first time out of work, and worked some really cyclic industries. Not ready to retire, could.
There is no doubt the company has almost no work as customers put almost all projects on hold except the one that I was working on. What doesn’t look good to me as who’s left, they kept the ass kissers, which to me, does not give the company any long term future.
Half the engineers in my field are in the offshore oil industry, so jobs are going to be tight for a while.
Usually means that while all pay and benefits stop, they plan/hope to have the same position available when things settle down...it also allows one to seek unemployment benefits in the interim.
Smae with me. I am furloughed every other week until the end of May.
Furloughed means you are not fired and you will have a job to which to return...when they NEED you.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.