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Unemployed in Pennsylvania

2K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  ARCMOMMY 
#1 ·
I will be laid-off at the end of this school year. I will continue to be covered under the insurance until September 30, 2012. At which time, I would be eligible to enroll in COBRA which costs $1,100 a month.

My family consists of me, my husband, and 3 boys (11, 9, and 6).
I am in the state of Pennsylvania.

We are all fairly healthy and thankfully, do not have any chronic health problems.

What are my other insurance options while I am unemployed?
 
#2 ·
talk to an agent about a hospital only policy covers just if your sick enough to be in a hospital usually carries a high deductable but is better than nothing. Actually im in nj and my 22 has this kind of a policy 2000 deductable 3 doctor visits a year 187.00 a month Hes young and healthy thank God so really all he needs at this time
 
#5 ·
Check out sites like ehealthinsurance.com. They will quote several individual policies for families and singles for your region. Depending on how heavily regulated it is in your area, you may have multiple choices that are MUCH less than COBRA.

For example: In NYS, we were quoted for a family of 4 $900/month (back in 2007). Only one policy available. Only one deductible amount available. But NYS required many more mandated coverage items than other states. Moving out West, we requoted for our state (Utah). Over 40 policies from about 4-5 different companies, starting as low as $120 (back then) and going up based on deductible and company.

Call a local agent (maybe use Dave Ramsey's ELP list to find an endorsed local provider in your area) and get quotes on things. Do it now, while you still have an income. We just got dropped from a company policy because my husband was let go. He is working but not with benefits. I would have to go into the high risk pool and have the rest of my family on a separate policy. It would have cost us more than $450/month. But we called around, different carriers/agents, etc. We found a policy that would fit all of us for about $350/month. COBRA, if the company qualified for it, was about $900/month.
 
#7 ·
When I was laid off in 2009 I was told the COBRA would cost me $1500+ for the 3 of us (me, DH & DS). My mom read an article in AARP stating that Obama had cut the COBRA cost in 1/2 plus some. I contacted my former employers HR dept. and yes it was true. Apparently they weren't planning on notifying those of us that were laid off. So I ended up paying $584 a month once my severence ran out! BIG difference and was glad to have the extra $$ in my pocket. Our state also had low cost plans I could have gone for if needed.
You may want to check things out and make sure that your COBRA will truly be that high cost or if it's a lower rate.
 
#9 ·
My husband was self employed. over the years our premiums had gone up to $1300 a month for a healthy family of 6. It got to where we just could not afford it. So, we canceled it. At the same time my husband was joining up with a few other people to form a new business where we could get group health insurance that will go into effect in a month. We needed health insurance for about 8 months just in between the two. I went to United Health Care's website. You can see if they have plans in your area. We purchased a 6 month plan for about $200 a month- it was decent too. $2500 deductible. We didn't see any doctors during this time, but had we needed to we could have. It expired and then our new healthcare wasn't quite ready so twice I have gone back to that site and renewed month long policies for about $150 a month with the same $2500 deductible. You wouldn't want to do this permanently, and I don't think you even can, but for a year or so you could and it is cheap.
 
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