5 ms·

Not just if you have money. If you have a lot of money. The majority of the country is one major accident away from being completely wiped out. It's the number

Not just if you have money. If you have a lot of money. The majority of the country is one major accident away from being completely wiped out. It's the number one cause of bankruptcy. I had an emergency this year within a very tiny insurance gap between employers and now all of my savings and retirement are gone. I'm really not sure who it works out better for versus universal healthcare, but I can't imagine it's a whole lot.

zrail 4y ago
Was retroactively electing cobra not an option for some reason?
- mushbino 4y ago
  Longer story, but the timing of the emergency and recovery period fell within an ineligibility window for COBRA. My previous insurance company wouldn't have covered it anyway. It was the worst Blue Shield plan that I didn't even know could be legal. Also, I got the first few bills, was like okay, I'll just pay these off and move on and not even bother. These were the only bills I could find in their patient portal at the time. Then I got hit with the massive ones that made my head spin. By that time I had started at my new employer, my new insurance hadn't kicked in and I was outside of the COBRA window, not that it would have covered it anyway. From now on I'm making sure I have good insurance, which requires a crazy amount of due diligence, but not something I'll take for granted anymore. It's one of reasons I'm currently trying to move to another country. Quality of healthcare is important, but how much does it matter if you're in massive debt, lost nearly everything, and don't have a retirement anymore?
  - symlinkk 4y ago
    What ineligibility window are you talking about?
    - mushbino 4y ago
      You have 60 days to file (in writing by mail, in my case) once you leave your previous job, I didn't have enough time between jobs to really need it, emergency happens + a few weeks of recovery time where I'm incapable of basically doing anything, I get a few bills, I pay them, start working at my new job, get more and much larger bills, now I'm ineligible for Cobra. Not that it would have mattered with that insurer anyway in my case.
rrdharan 4y ago
You weren’t able to use COBRA? Or was the coverage just very poor even with it? My probably naive understanding was that COBRA can be activated retroactively if you get in an accident during the coverage gap.
- Glyptodon 4y ago
  I don't know about poster, but offering COBRA isn't required for companies below a certain size. (I had to unexpectedly obtain private insurance to cover a gap in the pre-Obamacare era because the co I worked for only had a few employees.) It is a qualifying event for using the exchanges, but no idea about that being retroactive.
  - staticautomatic 4y ago
    That shit is so expensive. I think I paid nearly $800 a month for a good short term policy during my gap.
- formerkrogemp 4y ago
  COBRA is fuxking expensive. I have no desire to pay for it again on a low salary.
  - ransom1538 4y ago
    Sigh. This isn't your fault. But COBRA is retroactive. EG. You have 60 days to find new insurance with a new employer. So you don't have to ever pay for COBRA. IF / when something happens - you pay all the missed bills and you are covered. That is the entire point of COBRA. People paying for COBRA are using it wrong or can't find employment in 60 days.
    - formerkrogemp 4y ago
      > So you don't have to ever pay for COBRA. Not technically true when I used it last. I did have to pay for it. "Employers may require individuals to pay for COBRA continuation coverage. Premiums cannot exceed the full cost of coverage, plus a 2 percent administration charge." But yes, the American Rescue Plan act allocated funds to make COBRA free. I wouldn't doubt that I was using cobra wrong at the time either prior to the passage of the act. Small pdf warning: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ebsa/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/faqs/cobra-continuation-health-coverage-for-employers.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjO_-CJ6eb4AhWVnGoFHXglCRwQFnoECAsQBQ&usg=AOvVaw1ifnHRdqcv4bATnWlBkBZW https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https:/...

zrail 4y ago

Was retroactively electing cobra not an option for some reason?

mushbino 4y ago
Longer story, but the timing of the emergency and recovery period fell within an ineligibility window for COBRA. My previous insurance company wouldn't have covered it anyway. It was the worst Blue Shield plan that I didn't even know could be legal. Also, I got the first few bills, was like okay, I'll just pay these off and move on and not even bother. These were the only bills I could find in their patient portal at the time. Then I got hit with the massive ones that made my head spin. By that time I had started at my new employer, my new insurance hadn't kicked in and I was outside of the COBRA window, not that it would have covered it anyway. From now on I'm making sure I have good insurance, which requires a crazy amount of due diligence, but not something I'll take for granted anymore. It's one of reasons I'm currently trying to move to another country. Quality of healthcare is important, but how much does it matter if you're in massive debt, lost nearly everything, and don't have a retirement anymore?
- symlinkk 4y ago
  What ineligibility window are you talking about?
  - mushbino 4y ago
    You have 60 days to file (in writing by mail, in my case) once you leave your previous job, I didn't have enough time between jobs to really need it, emergency happens + a few weeks of recovery time where I'm incapable of basically doing anything, I get a few bills, I pay them, start working at my new job, get more and much larger bills, now I'm ineligible for Cobra. Not that it would have mattered with that insurer anyway in my case.

rrdharan 4y ago

You weren’t able to use COBRA? Or was the coverage just very poor even with it? My probably naive understanding was that COBRA can be activated retroactively if you get in an accident during the coverage gap.

Glyptodon 4y ago
I don't know about poster, but offering COBRA isn't required for companies below a certain size. (I had to unexpectedly obtain private insurance to cover a gap in the pre-Obamacare era because the co I worked for only had a few employees.) It is a qualifying event for using the exchanges, but no idea about that being retroactive.
- staticautomatic 4y ago
  That shit is so expensive. I think I paid nearly $800 a month for a good short term policy during my gap.
formerkrogemp 4y ago
COBRA is fuxking expensive. I have no desire to pay for it again on a low salary.
- ransom1538 4y ago
  Sigh. This isn't your fault. But COBRA is retroactive. EG. You have 60 days to find new insurance with a new employer. So you don't have to ever pay for COBRA. IF / when something happens - you pay all the missed bills and you are covered. That is the entire point of COBRA. People paying for COBRA are using it wrong or can't find employment in 60 days.
  - formerkrogemp 4y ago
    > So you don't have to ever pay for COBRA. Not technically true when I used it last. I did have to pay for it. "Employers may require individuals to pay for COBRA continuation coverage. Premiums cannot exceed the full cost of coverage, plus a 2 percent administration charge." But yes, the American Rescue Plan act allocated funds to make COBRA free. I wouldn't doubt that I was using cobra wrong at the time either prior to the passage of the act. Small pdf warning: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ebsa/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/faqs/cobra-continuation-health-coverage-for-employers.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjO_-CJ6eb4AhWVnGoFHXglCRwQFnoECAsQBQ&usg=AOvVaw1ifnHRdqcv4bATnWlBkBZW https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https:/...