Affordable Medical Insurance Plans

COBRA, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act: why people condemn it but ironically acquires it at the same time. Due to this year’s worldwide recession, a lot of people get laid off from their jobs. And as stipulated in the COBRA (which was a law passed by the late President Ronald Reagan, the government is said to help its people get the chance of buying medical insurance from their past employers}. This COBRA health benefit is meant to provide for the medical needs of poor people who cannot meet the age requirements for Medicare. However, this reminds them of times wherein they feel that they are being tagged of using it like a food stamp.

Former employees, retirees along with their dependents are entitled to temporarily continue paying their COBRA health benefit as a group. However, it cannot be denied that a group health insurance in COBRA is a lot more expensive than the one which covers those who are still employed. Since, it is a must for companies to pay a part of the premium of their employees.

Included in the COBRA medical assistance are;  hospital care (inpatient or outpatient), physician care, surgical and other major medical benefits, also prescription drugs and other medical cares such as those of dental and optical clinics. Receiving all these benefits is a definite relief for a lot of families. Yet, it seemed to have deprived these people of their chance to live comfortably.

There is this quiet and peaceful elderly couple we know; the husband is closing in on 70, and was laid off from a job as a shelf stocker quite a while ago; he receives his Social Security check, a couple thousand dollars, and is more or less okay. His wife is about seven years younger than him; she was working as a supervisor at a bookstore until recently, and had coverage; but the bookstore chain had to downsize, and she was laid off permanently. Losing her paychecks, she wouldn’t be able to buy her costly medicines if it wasn’t for her application in the COBRA. It cost her just a couple of hundred dollars every month while she was still working. But not anymore, President Obama passed a business stimulus package back in the beginning of the year, and that allows the unemployed and the laid-off to claim deeply subsidized COBRA medical insurance benefits only for nine months. In March, she will need to fork over half of her paycheck to buy coverage, and she only makes about $1000 with her unemployment benefits. Now, the couple is puzzled as to where they’d be going to live after consuming all that remains from their benefits.

Why does the COBRA plan require citizens to work in this global recession; are there available jobs for old people which would support them in their help benefits rather than wages? Is it necessary for the government to push people to work themselves to death even if they’re not feeling well? What more is left for those who will be laid off who can’t  claim their 9-month COBRA health benefits. This is how the new framed COBRA works, most laid-off people get unemployment benefits of $1000 or less however the average COBRA payment is around $800 or less.

Now, the government has observed the problems presented by COBRA medical insurance, and are now fixing it. Yet it consumes time, try to put yourself in the elderly couple’s shoes, what do you think would you do if in any case your benefits are running out fast? People need short term medical insurance coverage.

Well, the first rule of the game is, never to stop making payments for your COBRA medical insurance. When the subsidized rate ends, we won’t really be getting any special notice, other than the heftier bill. You just have to find a way to pay it for now. Once you cease your payments, that’s the time they begin counting you as without medical insurance. You get a count of 63 days; if you scrape your money together in under the time, you’re safe. If in any case it takes any longer than the duration itself, your payment is then charged as a new account, which means you need to go through it all over again, unimaginable premium pays. Why not let group health insurance coverage just continue?

But, never lose your hopes, as soon as the law reforming the COBRA medical insurance is passed, rest assured, all of your excess payments will be refunded to you. Keeping your COBRA administrator updated as to when you will be given the refund will ensure that a notification definitely arrive at your doorstep. Let’s just hope that this awareness would reign over Washington.