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Sorry this happened to you. I know it’s a shock and going through this is really stressful. You’re in rural Indiana and worried about the job prospects. But yo

Sorry this happened to you. I know it’s a shock and going through this is really stressful. You’re in rural Indiana and worried about the job prospects. But you got a job at a YC company before. How did you do that? Can you run that same playbook now to find something? > How can I justify the high cost of COBRA health insurance with limited funds, so my high school teacher wife isn't burdened by my potential medical debt while being our sole provider? How do I fall asleep at night? Instead of doing COBRA can you get on your wife’s health insurance plan? It’ll almost certainly be cheaper than COBRA and a spouse’s job loss should be a qualifying event to let you enroll mid year. If not remember that you can enroll in COBRA retroactively for some period of time. If you get something lined up soon might be worth it to go that route. Best of luck!

poo-yie 4y ago
This part bears repeating: "you can enroll in COBRA retroactively for some period of time".
- astockwell 4y ago
  This doubly bears repeating: within the grace period for COBRA enrollment (for me, it was 60 days, but check with your (former) employer's HR ppl; they will still talk to you regardless of your now-non-employee status), you can even break your arm, get care, and still retroactively enroll in COBRA as long as you're within the grace period.
ryanmercer 4y ago
>Instead of doing COBRA can you get on your wife’s health insurance plan? Not until next school year several months away, if I don't have a "proper" job by then I'm working McDonalds and we're looking at selling our house and have a whole host of other problems.
- cableshaft 4y ago
  Usually companies are required to allow a change to health insurance outside of normal months after a 'qualifying life event' happens, of which someone in the family losing their health insurance because of losing their job would be considered a qualifying event. You should look into it. If nothing else, you should be eligible for an Obamacare plan, which might not be quite as good as the health insurance you had, but would be a lot cheaper than COBRA. I've been on it for a few months before while I was in between jobs in the past. https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/qualifying-life-event/ https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/qualifying-life-event/
  - jodacola 4y ago
    Keep in mind that there's a 30-day window to exercise the QLE for an employer-provided health insurance plan. I would recommend starting the process immediately to avoid any issues with the time involved with collecting the required documentation.
  - ryanmercer 4y ago
    Cool, we'll have to look into it to see if it is cheaper at all!
- BeetleB 4y ago
  Pretty much all insurance plans allow you to add spouse any time if the reason is that spouse got laid off and is no longer covered by an employer insurance plan. It may even be the law.
- throwaway5959 4y ago
  I mean, if you’re unwilling to relocate and can’t find work remotely, at least MCD would bring some money in the door.
- ISL 4y ago
  Just adding to the chorus that job-loss is a "qualifying life-event" that bypasses the annual cycles.
  - m348e912 4y ago
    This. I hope if anything is gleaned from this thread, it's that he can get on his wife's health insurance asap.
- roflyear 4y ago
  It hurts your credit, but you can forgo mortgage payments for over a year without risk of losing your house. Won't you be getting unemployment?
  - ryanmercer 4y ago
    Unemployment in Indiana is max $390 a week and only lasts for a maximum of 26 weeks. At best it would extend our living 'runway' temporarily and I'd bring home more working a fast food job.
    - roflyear 4y ago
      That is insane. Sorry about that. I would suggest you do what you can to stay in tech. Even being a cheap freelancer would probably make you more $ than fast food and you'll have more energy for other things.
- HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
  Along those lines, notify your mortgage company immediately. They will try to help. No mortgagor wants you to lose your house: they're in the business of lending money, not of managing empty houses. They will most likely let you miss payments for a month or two without incurring penalties. If you're still unemployed after that, you can discuss mortgage modifications that will reduce the amount you have to pay monthly. Especially with all the people who lost jobs due to COVID, they have become very accustomed to having to deal with this recently.

poo-yie 4y ago

This part bears repeating: "you can enroll in COBRA retroactively for some period of time".

astockwell 4y ago
This doubly bears repeating: within the grace period for COBRA enrollment (for me, it was 60 days, but check with your (former) employer's HR ppl; they will still talk to you regardless of your now-non-employee status), you can even break your arm, get care, and still retroactively enroll in COBRA as long as you're within the grace period.

ryanmercer 4y ago

>Instead of doing COBRA can you get on your wife’s health insurance plan? Not until next school year several months away, if I don't have a "proper" job by then I'm working McDonalds and we're looking at selling our house and have a whole host of other problems.

cableshaft 4y ago
Usually companies are required to allow a change to health insurance outside of normal months after a 'qualifying life event' happens, of which someone in the family losing their health insurance because of losing their job would be considered a qualifying event. You should look into it. If nothing else, you should be eligible for an Obamacare plan, which might not be quite as good as the health insurance you had, but would be a lot cheaper than COBRA. I've been on it for a few months before while I was in between jobs in the past. https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/qualifying-life-event/ https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/qualifying-life-event/
- jodacola 4y ago
  Keep in mind that there's a 30-day window to exercise the QLE for an employer-provided health insurance plan. I would recommend starting the process immediately to avoid any issues with the time involved with collecting the required documentation.
- ryanmercer 4y ago
  Cool, we'll have to look into it to see if it is cheaper at all!
BeetleB 4y ago
Pretty much all insurance plans allow you to add spouse any time if the reason is that spouse got laid off and is no longer covered by an employer insurance plan. It may even be the law.
throwaway5959 4y ago
I mean, if you’re unwilling to relocate and can’t find work remotely, at least MCD would bring some money in the door.
ISL 4y ago
Just adding to the chorus that job-loss is a "qualifying life-event" that bypasses the annual cycles.
- m348e912 4y ago
  This. I hope if anything is gleaned from this thread, it's that he can get on his wife's health insurance asap.
roflyear 4y ago
It hurts your credit, but you can forgo mortgage payments for over a year without risk of losing your house. Won't you be getting unemployment?
- ryanmercer 4y ago
  Unemployment in Indiana is max $390 a week and only lasts for a maximum of 26 weeks. At best it would extend our living 'runway' temporarily and I'd bring home more working a fast food job.
  - roflyear 4y ago
    That is insane. Sorry about that. I would suggest you do what you can to stay in tech. Even being a cheap freelancer would probably make you more $ than fast food and you'll have more energy for other things.
HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
Along those lines, notify your mortgage company immediately. They will try to help. No mortgagor wants you to lose your house: they're in the business of lending money, not of managing empty houses. They will most likely let you miss payments for a month or two without incurring penalties. If you're still unemployed after that, you can discuss mortgage modifications that will reduce the amount you have to pay monthly. Especially with all the people who lost jobs due to COVID, they have become very accustomed to having to deal with this recently.