Posted on 08/04/2015 9:56:29 AM PDT by incredulous joe
Greetings Freeper Friends, I hope that someone might be able to help me out or guide me to a source where I might find answers.
A few years back, at the height of the economic turmoil, I had to do something drastic; I changed my career of some 20-plus years from a graphic designer and art director to a nurse's aide. It was a big move down the economic ladder. I did this because of the lack of the stability in my field; I could no longer recruit new clients and, when I did work for folks, I could not always be insured that I would be paid. These developments were new to my professional situation.
One of the other reasons that I sought work in this field was because, as a private business owner, I was struggling with the cost of health insurance. While my new job was a big slip down the career ladder, it provided steady check, job security and the health insurance which basically kept my family from losing everything.
Over the last few years, I have been working toward returning to school to become a nurse. Not something that I ever saw myself doing, but I am on my way. To date, I have studied PT, while remaining at my position FT to provide my family with healthcare, however, as I move forward into my clinical studies, I will need to become part-time.
I still wish to retain my healthcare plan, and heard that I can pay COBRA benefits to continue my coverage. Where can I get additional information about COBRA and how it works, when the benefits take over and how they compare to my current plan.
Thanks in advance for any advice that you may provide. FReepers have been an excellent and knowledgeable resource and have provided me with much encouragement as I have made these changes in my career. Thanks again. ~ Joseph
There is a limit to the length of time you can remain on COBRA. A year, as I remember. The program is expensive, if you have received any kind of subsidy from your employer in the past. You have to pay your share of the premium, plus the employer’s previous share. A better solution is to see if there is independant heallth insurance available in your community. We used to have Assurant here, a company that would find a plan for you that was reasonable and was portable. Unfortunately, Obamacare drove them out of business.
You should be able to get COBRA coverage for 18 months following your termination from your FT job. The cost should be the same rate as was being paid before, but this may be significantly higher, if your employer has been subsidizing the premiums. You will need to ask your HR department for specifics, but may have copies of the full rates in info provided by your employer at the most recent enrollment period.
As an aside, nursing is a lucrative career now. Several family members are nurses, grossing (in the Midwest) in the upper $60’s (with some help from OT, incentive pay, differentials for nights, weekends, and holidays) within 5 years out of school, in their upper 20s (age).
Good luck with this new career choice.
COBRA is for employers with 20 or more employees. It sounds like you were self employed so depending on what you had, individual plan or small group coverage you will have to check with your present carrier. Also, if you were affiliated with an association they might offer COBRA. Many different moving parts. If you want to private message me I will probably be able to steer you correctly as I have done this health insurance for 30 + years.
Thanks. Based on discussion in this thread, it sounds like the cost would be prohibitive. My employer subsidizes a fair portion of a very good plan. Previousl, my feeling had been that while my wife works full time I could pick up hours at the facility that I work at and I would meet the costs. I’m not even sure that I could do that? I had considered trying to work FT and school FT, but I can’t mess up my opportunity at school.
Again, good luck to you. I didn’t mention it, but yes, my daughter also is caring. She was wonderful with the old folks who were dying, and she’s wonderful in intensive care and other assignments. Basically, we have two kinds of nurses in the hospital, those who treat it like working behind the lunch counter for a salary, and those who are really friendly and caring. My daughter belongs to the caring group, and I suspect as a result that when I go over there for tests or blood draws, I always seem to meet only the good ones. On the whole, with an occasional exception, it’s a good hospital, unlike some others I have known.
With the Affordable Care Act, no one can be denied health insurance nor can they be charged more for health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. The only reason for selecting COBRA in this case is if it gives access to hospitals, specialists and medications not available through publicly offered health insurance plans. But be aware, too, that many pre-ACA plans had maximum benefit payouts. Health insurance plans covered by ACA, i.e., the publicly available health insurance plans, do not allow benefit caps.
You have at least a couple of options.
If it were me, I would start by going out to the Maryland Health Connection and seeing what’s available. Just glancing at their site, you can explore without signing up for anything (https://secure.marylandhealthconnection.gov/AHCT/LandingPageCTHIX). I have no idea what your family income is - you might qualify for a subsidy. Seeing the relative cost of plans and what’s available for your county is a good starting point.
But the health plans available through the Maryland exchange are only a subset of all the health plans publicly available. Talk to someone in administration where you work and see who the larger health insurance companies are in your state, then visit their websites. (I did that in my state when my husband started talking about retiring.) See what plans they offer - both for the hospitals and doctors covered and the costs and the deductibles. Compare those plans to what you find on the Maryland exchange.
You can deal directly with a large insurance company if one of their plans meets your needs.
Of you can go through a health insurance broker. Since I’ve never done that, I can’t advise you, but you might want to research reputable ones where you live. They should be knowledgeable about appropriate plans.
That's a fine plan as long as everyone in your family stays healthy and accident-free outside of the open enrollment periods. Having your child's appendix burst outside of open enrollment can be a budget buster.
Bookmark for later
you need to check the pricing before you make statements like that (ACA).. I checked post ACA and it’s very similar, nothing has changed, except the prices have gone....UP!
I stand corrected...I failed to consider that Obama care had open enrollment periods. That would be a budget buster..
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