Should I get COBRA Health Coverage or an Individual Plan?
Were you recently laid-off, retired or working for yourself now? If you were working for a large enough company that provides COBRA (Continuation of Benefits Reconciliation Act) health insurance you can stay on the same plan, yet it might be very costly. If your employer is smaller, they can’t offer you to stay on the same health plan via COBRA coverage and only choice may be to find your own individual health plan that is compliant with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A COBRA plan simply means your former company is allowing you to stay on the same group plan, yet now you will pay 100% of the cost of insurance plus an administrative fee for you and all other family members. Your other alternative is to buy your own individual health insurance on the WA Health Exchange (if you live in WA).
EXAMPLE SCENERIOS: Generally, if you are older, it’s a better deal to do COBRA because it takes the average age of the average employee. If you are 60 years old and the average employee is a 35-year-old tech employee do the COBRA plan 95% of the time (unless your income will be much lower going forward, there are exceptions to every situation). However, if you are a 40-year-old that was working at a big manufacturing company with an average employee that’s a 55-year-old man that’s overweight and prone to heart attacks, then getting your own individual plan is likely the answer. The price employers play is based on the age, health, and total expenses it costs them for the average employee.
There are times when COBRA is a good deal and bad deal based on a variety of factors such as: age, size of family, current year income from all sources, what type of health insurance network you want and many more specific issues. The good news is that we can generally nail down if COBRA is a good or bad deal for you very quickly. At least from a high level.
The most important thing is that if you stay on your company COBRA plan your coverage simply continues. If you switch to an individual health plan your deductible and all other expenses start over from scratch. Individual health plans have a smaller network of doctors, yet most of the time we can find nearly all or at least the most important providers your family wants to see. Overall, we will help you look up doctors, prescriptions, hospital systems and how you use care. By stress testing the individual health plans it enables you to know what you are getting into. Our commission is built into the price, so it is the same cost if you enroll in an individual health plan yourself or we help you do it. If you choose an individual plan, we will help you enroll in the WA HealthPlanFinder site, get your COBRA eligibility form to the new carrier, and confirm your coverage set up most effectively.
Please send this blog to any friends or family that might need an individual health plan in Washington State. To schedule a time give us a call or text to 425-802-2783 or can schedule a time on our calendar in the red link below.
To schedule a meeting on our calendar, CLICK HERE.
Gary Franke, Tamara Chandler, Brianna Crawford & Melissa Tibbs
Heffernan Insurance Brokers
Individual Health & Medicare Specialists
1100 Bellevue Way NE, Ste 8A-545
Bellevue, WA 98004
425-802-2783 (call or text office line)
wahealth@heffins.com
www.wahealthplan.org
