8 ms·

Ask HN: What do I do about Health Insurance after quitting my job?

8 points by bestnoodles 12y ago

As the title states, I'm thinking of leaving my job to pursue my personal projects for 3 months, but my biggest uncertainty and apprehension is health insurance. I'm pretty lost in this: there's a lot of literature but no clear answer, and I'm not sure what the new regulations are under obamacare... What's a simple, affordable way to make sure I'm covered? Thanks!

noahc 12y ago
You first might want to start investigating COBRA. A good place to start is http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-consumer-cobra.html http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-consumer-cobra.html.
drewvolpe 12y ago
The simplest option is to pay for the plan you currently are on through COBRA. This guarantees you 18 months of coverage at whatever rate your employer currently pays for you. This what my founders and I did for our last startup. It does require you have enough saved up to cover the cost yourself, but it's very simple and easy, and you keep everything the same. You could also see if you qualify for a cheaper plan. Go to HealthCare.gov and enter your information and you'll get a list of plans and what they cost.
ja27 12y ago
If you can afford it, COBRA. That saves you quite a bit of time and energy finding a new plan and minimizes or eliminates surprises like changes in coverage or needing to change doctors. For only a 3 month window, as long as you're relatively healthy (and are certain you will not get pregnant) I'd take the gamble and go without insurance, but I'm a gambler. From my experiences, the stress of not having coverage is pretty comparable to the stress of enrolling in a new ACA plan. Depending on your work, you can also inquire about taking a leave of absence. I've worked with a couple of people that have done that. Most never returned but some did.
- chrisBob 12y ago
  If you are going without health insurance check on your car insurance policy. Mine does not cover my own injuries because I have a good health insurance plan right now, but you might want to add $100k of driver/passenger coverage to your plan.
dredmorbius 12y ago
Where are you located? COBRA is the standard answer. The ACA provides for coverage, though the general enrollment period has closed for this year. I'm not sure if a job transition counts as a qualifying event for a new enrollment, but there are counsellors (free of charge) in some states who can answer your questions on that. My experience is that there tend to be a few tiers of coverage, and that you'll want to balance your anticipated healthcare needs with the dues. From what I've seen, middle-tier coverage tends to be the best bet.
- bestnoodles 12y ago
  I'm 24, male, living in the bay area. Any rough estimates on how much COBRA would cost?
  - dredmorbius 12y ago
    That will be specified in the COBRA paperwork you receive, talk to your benefits coordinator / HR person. You'll want to compare costs with what you might be able to purchase outside of COBRA. I'd suggest taking a look at the Covered California website or getting a quote from Kaiser: open https://individual-family.kaiserpermanente.org/healthinsurance/get_a_quote https://individual-family.kaiserpermanente.org/healthinsuran... I've tried doing that with the information you've provided but find the websites aren't cooperating with me (that's been an ongoing failing of the health plan(s) in general). I suspect you'll be paying under $300/mo for a silver plan. See also: http://www.healthpocket.com/individual-health-insurance/silver-health-plans http://www.healthpocket.com/individual-health-insurance/silv...
  - idlewords 12y ago
    My guess is you'll find plans in the 200-300/month range unless you have hereditary boneitis. One thing to watch out for is that teeth and eyes are often covered seperately, for some unknown reason.
    - tptacek 12y ago
      Pedantry: That's because teeth and eyes have predictable and often high maintenance costs that general medicine doesn't. It's hard to cost-effectively insure teeth, for instance, because you're almost certain to incur routine and expensive costs. Expensive general medical interventions are much less predictable and frequent and so that risk pools nicely. That's also why private dental insurance is often not a good deal.
brogrammer90 12y ago
If you're young and fit just forgo it. It's very unlikely a basement dwelling neck beard would get hurt writing javascript and refreshing the browser a million times.
ApolloRising 12y ago
Kaiser offers some reasonable plans for simple coverage. Depending on your age and health you could get it for less than 250 a month.
- idlewords 12y ago
  Same goes for Blue Cross/Blue Shield (though I like Kaiser a whole lot). All these places have websites with various plan options. If you devote an afternoon to nerding out about the technicalities, you'll find a decent plan. The important thing is to have some kind of catastrophic coverage. If you don't go the Kaiser route, I would recommend One Medical as a nerd-friendly place to get health care in the Bay Area. You can do most stuff via website and they take a variety of insurers. (https://www.onemedical.com/sf/ https://www.onemedical.com/sf/)
bestnoodles 12y ago
thanks for the Comment guys. I'm concerned because I'm reasonably active and do get minor injuries sometimes at BJJ, which is my main outlet for exercise. I'm 24, male, living in the bay area. Any rough estimates on how much COBRA would cost?
cabo14 12y ago
I can help you as I sell health insurance...You may be eligible for a subsidy...I am a Licensed and bonded agent. I can answer many questions for you if you want to talk. You will not want Cobra as it will be more expensive then you need to pay. Remember Cobra is the full cost of your Insurance with no help from your employer. kaufmanins@gmail.com
subrat_rout 12y ago
If you are located in California and do not have any income then contact your County Office. You may be eligible for Medicare California which provides coverage without charging any premium. (Not a professional advice).

idlewords 12y ago
This is one reason why I think the concept of private insurance, vs state-provided health care, is insane. It's not like teeth and eyes are fancy upgrades that some of us blinged out on. Clearly the first step towards nationalized health care is me commenting on a message board. Avanti!
- tptacek 12y ago
  I agree that it's a stark illustration of the limits of the insurance model. Nationalizing the health care industry is itself fraught, though. I remember a Gladwell New Yorker essay that related dental care to poverty and economic mobility, so I'll add right away that this isn't a small problem.
  - mechanical_fish 12y ago
    Nationalizing the health care industry is itself fraught, though. I wonder: How much would our national dental health improve if we merely offered universal coverage for the simple stuff: cleanings, photographs, and X-rays? The standard of care for these things doesn't seem like it varies wildly: Everyone should get a cleaning and inspection from a dental hygienist every six or twelve months. Obviously, once we get into treatments the judgement calls begin, and then it does become fraught. But speaking as someone who might have saved a small fortune on fillings, crowns, and root canals if he hadn't just stopped going to the dentist regularly for several years – because, by the time your teeth start hurting, it is way too late for the inexpensive interventions – I wish we had national dental coverage for checkups, such that it was economical to station people in malls and on street corners begging passersby to step inside a door and spend thirty minutes getting their "free" dental cleaning. Yes, the hygienists would probably try to up-sell you. But that's a relatively nice problem to have.
    - Alupis 12y ago
      > The board has given me detailed instructions in how I should talk about Code Club sponsors. For instance, if someone asks me about x's involvement in corporate mass surveillance where x is a Code Club sponsor (eg Google), I should answer: "I do not want to get into the specifics of any particular corporation. Nonetheless, it’s worth restating that the Code Club board believe X are a tremendous partner. As a member of the board I am completely aligned with that view." >I'm not comfortable with lying and so it is in my best interest to resign. I fail to see how she would be "lying" here, in any capacity. She may know more but refrained from stating it? As the Director, you are supposed to make a statement like this and not harm your sponsors. For her to speak out against them would be counter productive to her organization's goals. Seems to me she just has some moral issues with some companies in particular and therefore was not comfortable working in any capacity with them. So, it was an appropriate choice to resign imho.