Temporary Insurance

[ilovewfu]

My student insurance runs out in a few days and I don't begin work until October 1. What should I do? What is a good kind of temporary plan? I've done some research and it seems like I can get 2 months of coverage for around $100 or so. I'm just wary of doing this sort of thing over the internet, so I was hoping for some wisdom from The Pit.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

 

[Satan]

cobra is very expensive.

i used a company called fortis years ago. it worked fine for me, and i'd recommend them.

 

[tsywake]

When i went through the same thing after college, i used BCBSNC. Probably more expensive than other options, but i felt safer with them.

Sent from my MB886 using Tapatalk 2

 

[LCDeacon]

It sounds like you need a short term policy, bcbs doesn't have one but other major carriers do. Send me a pm if you want me to get some quotes together fo you.

 

[CHDeac]

It sounds like you need a short term policy, bcbs doesn't have one but other major carriers do. Send me a pm if you want me to get some quotes together fo you.

Any individual policy can be used as a "short term" plan so this isn't correct. Short term plans have other issues. There are horror stories with short term insurance with its renewability and pre-ex

Buy the cheapest regular plan you can get from a company you heard of. In NC, I'd go with BCBSNC, Coventry or Humana. Buy a huge deductible, like $10k.

PM me for other info. I don't sell insurance so I can point you places to go buy.

 

[LCDeacon]

Any individual policy can be used as a "short term" plan so this isn't correct. Short term plans have other issues. There are horror stories with short term insurance with its renewability and pre-ex

Buy the cheapest regular plan you can get from a company you heard of. In NC, I'd go with BCBSNC, Coventry or Humana. Buy a huge deductible, like $10k.

PM me for other info. I don't sell insurance so I can point you places to go buy.

Good luck getting a major med policy effective in a few days. But I do bcbsnc, Coventry, Humana and others so I would be glad to give you information on the options.

 

[Deac2010]

its two months.. tough it out

 

[DownEastDeac]

Will you be eligible for the new employer's insurance effective October 1? If so:
You have 60 days to elect COBRA, and if you do so it automatically goes back to the day you lost regular coverage.
As long as you don't have a break in coverage that exceeds 63 days (federal law), there are no preexisitng conditions.

So what you would want to do is hang on to your COBRA election materials, and if you have a medical charge that exceeds the cost of the COBRA premium between now and October 1, go ahead and elect COBRA and the procedure will be covered, even though you waited to enroll after the medical charge was incurred.
If no signficant medical charges between now and October 1, you simplly go w/o coverage for what sounds like 6 weeks or so (key is less than 63 days) and pick up coverage on October 1 with no preexisintg condtions.
Having said that, most company health plans have a waiting period of at least 30 days, so in that case your best best is to get a short term policy in the interim. But even in that scenario, you'd be fine to start coverage as late as October 1, b/c again you would not have exceeded the 63 day break in coverage.
You'd be smart to get someone who you know that is well-versed on insurance and the new health care laws to confrm what I'm saying (possibly the benefits person at your new employer), but I'm confident that this is correct.

 

[PhysDeac]

Here is a question:

I'm 25, and just got married in June. I can't go on my Wife's insurance until open enrollment (Nov 1, I think). I have been on my Dad's health insurance since I'm in graduate school still. Can I stay on my Dad's insurance until November? Is there anything I need to do between now and then?

 

[ilovewfu]

I ended up choosing an option available to UVa alums. See: http://www.gradmed.com/av4/index.asp?assnID=401.

It only cost me about $100 for almost 2 months of coverage, so it wasn't too bad. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[tsywake]

Here is a question:

I'm 25, and just got married in June. I can't go on my Wife's insurance until open enrollment (Nov 1, I think). I have been on my Dad's health insurance since I'm in graduate school still. Can I stay on my Dad's insurance until November? Is there anything I need to do between now and then?

Marriage is the one time you can go on her insurance without having to wait until open enrollment. All you have to do is fill out the paperwork and send a copy of the marriage certificate to HR. Assuming she still works at WFBH. We added my wife the day after we got married.

 

[CHDeac]

Marriage is the one time you can go on her insurance without having to wait until open enrollment. All you have to do is fill out the paperwork and send a copy of the marriage certificate to HR. Assuming she still works at WFBH. We added my wife the day after we got married.

You can also stay on your dad's plan thanks to Obama through age 26, regardless of your marital status. But marriage is almost always a qualifying event.