Cobra rates for company insurance... WOW

**humandraydel** · 07-11-2007, 02:40 PM

OUCH!! I just recently changed jobs and had the "opportunity" to continue with COBRA for $400 per month for a single employee. Fortunately I didn't need to since I was starting another job right away.

For $1200 a month I'd probably just tough it out if I could. You'd need a lot to go wrong in a year to make it worth $14k....of course, I am single with no children, so I could do that.

Have you looked into a separate high deductible policy?

**disneysteve** · 07-11-2007, 03:00 PM

Yep, Lisa, most people don't have a clue how good they have it.

**cicy33** · 07-11-2007, 03:22 PM

Originally posted by Coleroo View Post

As most of you probably know, when an employer / employee relationship ends, the employee has the option of continuing under the company health insurance plan for a certain period of time as long as they pay the full premium (employee rate + company rate).

Well, our call center is closing effective Sept. 30 and we received our cobra rates today.

Right now my husband and I have the employee + 1 package A ($250 per person deductible and a $250 wellness benefit) at $64.34 every 2 weeks.

Our new cobra rate? $1,124.98 PER MONTH.

It always made me mad when our employees complained about our benefits - they have no idea how good they had it. We had slammin good health insurance rates... whew.

I am a cobra accounts processor and it pleases me so much to hear that people actually do understand how it works. So many people call in and think that we make up the rates. They do not get it that it is what THEIR previous employer insurance cost. I know what you mean about people complaining. I have great insurance at a great cost and I really appreciate it! My daughter lost a job about a year ago and for her a single, female at 20 the cost was going to be about $600. She was amazed. I explained to her how it worked. Now, she is more appreciative. Just for benefit of anyone here that is not aware of cobra rules, you have 60 days to elect the coverage once it is offered to you. if you don't you forfeit. If you need it cuz you are really sick, there are organizations that will pay for it if you can't afford it.. Hospitals will sometimes pay for a month or two if you had a serious problem and had to have surgery or something and just couldn't afford the premium.

**Daylily** · 07-11-2007, 03:35 PM

I just came off 7 months of Cobra.
While I was working I payed $140/month for Employee + Spouse.
Afterwards, it was $740/month for both of us.

Not quite as high as your Coleroo, but yeah, I know the pain.

**project15** · 07-11-2007, 06:25 PM

Eh, I'd just tough it out like I did after college. Of course I'm still young and have never really been sick enough to go to the hospital. However, I'm married now and my wife is hospital happy so I doubt I could still do that.

**Daylily** · 07-11-2007, 06:57 PM

I have to say that I disagree with the idea of dropping the coverage for several reasons.

1. What if something catastrophic happens? It's one thing to have to pay a $100 doctor bill out of your pocket, it's another to have a $250,000 hospital bill.

2. Aren't there issues with 'continuation of coverage.' Suppose you have a pre-existing condition and then you drop coverage. Then you later try to get on some other plan. Isn't there something that says that the new plan has to cover your pre-existing condition as long as you have had some kind of coverage but if you were without coverage then the new plan can avoid covering the condition for a certain period of time.

Wasn't that part of the Hipaa stuff? Forgive me if that is completely wrong or if it one of those urban legends. Perhaps someone else can clarify this.

**MonkeyMama** · 07-12-2007, 06:26 AM

Yeah I am so sick of hearing my friends talk about their $50 premiums and $10 copays. We have had private insurance our entire adult lives and it capped out about $1k/month when we turned 30. we could afford it no longer and so we switched to $700/month which is still a decent plan. But we make good money and I find it ridiculous we can't even afford the best insurance any longer. Who the heck can afford this stuff? On the flip side I know so many people who feel "stuck" at their jobs due to the benefits. Who were frightened by Cobra. On the bright side that's not an issue for us. (Gotta look at the bright side...)

**nanamom** · 07-12-2007, 07:05 AM

I had to pay Cobra rates for awhile once. It did inspire me to find a new job quickly.

**Fern** · 07-18-2007, 09:17 AM

Oh my god that's really scary.

Just a few years ago i was paying $500 a monh as a single person.

Yeah, find new work like rEAL FAST

**safari** · 07-18-2007, 10:46 AM

It makes me appreciate my current employer. My medical insurance costs about $30 a month and dental $10 a month. They also offer vision insurance for free.

Cobra rates for company insurance... WOW