Tips for Keeping Your Health Insurance

If you’ve lost your job, you don’t want to lose your health insurance, too. Statistics show that a one percent rise in the unemployment rate is projected to increase the number of uninsured by 1.1 million (source: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation).

Here is a list of tips from eHealthInsurance to ride out unemployment while keeping your health insurance:

• First, check to see if you can get on your spouse’s employer plan. Learn how much, if any, the employee contribution would rise if you join the plan.
• If you think losing your job is a possibility in the next year, start reviewing your employer health care plans now. During open enrollment, you may be able to choose a plan that would cost less in a COBRA environment.
• If you are offered COBRA (the same plan you had with your employer, but now you pay both the employer and employee contributions) learn exactly how much your COBRA premiums will cost each month, and exactly what the benefits are. COBRA plans tend to be benefit rich and very expensive, so if you are paying for it – now is the time to use those benefits.
• There are less expensive options to COBRA. In fact, the average COBRA premium costs 60% more than for customers who found comparable coverage on-line.
• Before you decide to apply for a plan online, check with your doctor to review patient records and target any health issues that might raise a red flag for changing health insurance coverage.
• Go online and compare plans from at least 2-3 different health insurance companies. Look at options between 6-8 plans side by side, benefit for benefit.
• Look for an individual plan online that has the same benefits (if you need all those benefits) and especially the same doctors that you love.
• Buy only what you need and save on the monthly premium. Choosing a high deductible plan is smart for some individuals and families because it reduces monthly premiums, but you must be prepared to pay the amount of the deductible in the coming year as health care needs arise.
• Short-term health insurance, which typically lasts for six months, can be a great way to prevent a health insurance gap when you are between jobs or your COBRA benefits are timing out. The underwriting process is different than for long term plans, so it is quick and easy to apply online by answering a few basic questions, and you get a quick answer.
• Now might be a good time to look into a Health Savings Account (HSA) paired with a high deductible health plan. This type of health insurance allows you to pay directly into a bank account that you own and use to pay for health care expenses at your discretion. The best news? Your HSA travels with you regardless of your employment status.
• Check into all your options - sometimes it is less expensive for certain family members to be on a separate plan, for example, if someone has a pre-existing condition. Do the math on separate policies if there are special needs. It’s easy to price individual and family plans online.

Source: eHealthInsurance