Laid Off? 10 Health Care Tips

Dec. 15, 2008 — With the markets roiling and the ranks of the unemployed
growing, it’s time to take a cold, hard look at a worker’s worst-case scenario:
being laid off.
If it happens to you, and you had health insurance through your employer,
what are your options now? And what about the toll that losing your job can
take on your physical and mental health?
Here are 10 practical tips about health insurance and health care, in case
the pink slip comes.
1. Check with your spouse or partner.
If you’re married or have a partner who has health insurance through their
employer, look into getting added to their plan via special enrollment. That’s
often the most cost-effective option, and you don’t have to wait until the open
enrollment period — but you need to do it within 30 days of losing eligibility
for other coverage,according to background information posted on the
Department of Labor’s web site.
2. Consider COBRA.
COBRA (the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986) allows
you to keep the health insurance you had through your employer for up to 18
months.
COBRA will cost more than what got taken out of your former paycheck.
Besides paying what you paid as an employee, you’ll also pick up the tab that
your employer covered, and you may also pay a 2% administrative fee.
“That can be cost prohibitive, but that is an option for people; they
are able to keep that coverage during the time of transition,” says Robert
Zirkelbach, director of strategic communicationsfor America’s Health
Insurance Plans, a trade group for health insurance companies.
Still, the U.S. Department of Labor’s web site notes that “while COBRA
rates may seem high, you will be paying group premium rates, which are usually
lower than individual rates.”
If your company closed or went bankrupt, COBRA won’t be available; it’s only
an option if your company’s health care plan is still around. And you have to
enroll in COBRA; companies with at least 20 employees are usually required to
offer COBRA coverage and to let employees know about that, according to the
Department of Labor.
3. Look into private health insurance.
You can buy your own health insurance in the private health insurance
market. Zirkelbach advises shopping around and taking a careful look at what
you’re buying, including:

Co-payments: a dollar amount you’re expected to pay for doctor visits or
prescriptions
Co-insurance: a percentage of medical bills that you’re responsible
for
In-network and out-of-network doctors: If you have a specific doctor in
mind, ask the doctor’s office or the health insurance company if that doctor is
in the company’s network of physicians.
Formularies: Find out if your medications are covered and what you would
pay for them.