Insurance Help?

stella_blu

I am thinking of staying home after our baby is born but my health insurance is through work. I am willing to pay for COBRA but I really want to know how much it's going to cost. I called the insurance company and they won't tell me how much my monthly premium costs before my employer pays. Is there any other way to find out this information besides asking my employer?

scooter19

Well, I have no idea what kind of coverage you have but when I looked into COBRA, it was over $1,300.00.  It's expensive.

rlscheck

I'm not sure how much, I just know that it is HIGH, I mean like REALLY HIGH.  The 1,300 posted above doesn't surprise me at all

joelen&louis

When you were an active employee, your employer may have paid all or part of your group health premiums. Under COBRA, as a former employee no longer receiving benefits, you will usually pay the entire premium amount, that is, the portion of the premium that you paid as an active employee and the amount of the contribution made by your employer. In addition, there may be a 2 percent administrative fee.

While COBRA rates may seem high, you will be paying group premium rates, which are usually lower than individual rates.

Since it is likely that there will be a lapse of a month or more between the date you leave and the time you make the COBRA election decision, you may have to pay health premiums retroactively-from the time of separation from the company. The first premium, for instance, will cover the entire time since your last day of employment with your former employer.

You should also be aware that it is your responsibility to pay for COBRA coverage even if you do not receive a monthly statement.

Although they are not required to do so, some employers may subsidize COBRA coverage.

More COBRA FAQs can be found here.

BabyH2010

I thought people just had to pay 35% of COBRA?

(I know I could be very wrong, I don't know anything about it...) 

stella_blu

I understand that I have to pay the full premium and possibly an additional 2% but how can I find out what the monthly premium is? The insurance company will not divulge this information.

ckstokes

BabyH2010:

I thought people just had to pay 35% of COBRA?

(I know I could be very wrong, I don't know anything about it...) 

um, no. You definitely pay it all. It is EXTREMELY expensive compared to the rates you get as an employee in a company. I personally would rather work and pay $300 a month to add a new family member/baby to my policy than the full thing each month.  

Does your SO have insurance with his employer he could add you guys to?  That may help a lot.  

rissa06

BabyH2010:

I thought people just had to pay 35% of COBRA?

(I know I could be very wrong, I don't know anything about it...) 

I believe that is only if you were laid-off or fired from your organization ..  

We had cobra benefits for the last three months .  it was ovr $1500 per month just for medical . not including dental and vision . .

With regards to paying corba benefits . . yes .  what the above poster said it is true .  the have 10 days to sent you your corba benefit information . you have 30 days to decide and they generally ask you to pay 2 months up front . . i know we are in a situation now that they didn't send us a bill and they canceled our insurance.  however, we appealed it, because we needed the bill to have it paid. . DH's company is paying our benefits for 3 months . .  

BabyH2010

stella_blu:

I understand that I have to pay the full premium and possibly an additional 2% but how can I find out what the monthly premium is? The insurance company will not divulge this information.

 

A couple of years ago I was thinking about going from my full-time job to a part-time job that opened up in my area, but it didn't include benefits. I just called my companys HR and got the price. Needless to say - I kept the full-time position.

BabyH2010

ckstokes:

BabyH2010:

I thought people just had to pay 35% of COBRA?

(I know I could be very wrong, I don't know anything about it...) 

um, no. You definitely pay it all. It is EXTREMELY expensive compared to the rates you get as an employee in a company. I personally would rather work and pay $300 a month to add a new family member/baby to my policy than the full thing each month.  

Does your SO have insurance with his employer he could add you guys to?  That may help a lot.  

 

Oops - I knew I had read it somewhere -- I was checking into it when my company was having major layoffs......but that's neither here nor there..

https://cobrainsurance.com/help/questions/1330/65%+Cobra+pay? 

Monicagail1

The employer is the administrator of the COBRA coverage, and can charge you up to 102% of the premium (Their rate plus up to a 2% admin charge).  Because it's ultimately the employer's decision what to charge you most insurance companies will not quote it to you (at least where I work we do not release to the employees-we direct back to the employer). Unfortunately the only other place to get the info is the employer.  You might be able to guess if you are responsible for a % of premium for cost sharing.

 

Also, remember if their rates change, so do yours.  So if they get a big increase at the next renewal, most likely so will you. 

mrstarawalsh

Is there a way that you could qualify for medicaide or some state funded insurance if your income would drop? I know there's a program here in Cali for higher middle class families where you pay a small premium and get full coverage... is that an option for you guys?