Having health insurance through your workplace is great and all, but what happens when you leave? Can you continue your health coverage at the same rate? What does your provider do about discounts that were available to your employer? How long can you continue coverage?

For most people, leaving a job means losing their health insurance benefits. While you can usually purchase private insurance from the same provider, you likely won’t get the same rate since employers usually get discounts based on group rates. Additionally, some portions of your employer’s plan may not be available for an individual plan.

COBRA May Be a Solution

To address this issue, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) was put into place, allowing workers to receive health benefits continuation after leaving a job. COBRA lets most workers who received health insurance through their places of employment continue receiving the same coverage for a period of either 18 months or 36 months. If you would like to know about health benefits continuation, visit this website.

Requirements to Take Part in COBRA Coverage

There are certain requirements to be eligible for COBRA. In general, your employer’s health insurance plan needs to be covered by COBRA, you need to experience a qualifying life event like separation from your company, and you must be a qualified beneficiary for this event.

Essentially, all of this means that you must lose your workplace coverage due to separation, and you must be the person for whom the insurance is intended. If a spouse loses their job, your COBRA eligibility does not affect your spouse’s ability to continue coverage.

Is COBRA a Good Idea?

Health benefits continuation through a COBRA insurance plan may be a good idea if you have no other options, but it can be expensive. Keep in mind that your employer not only received discounts on their rate due to covering a large group of people, but your employer also probably paid some portion of the total insurance cost. Without your employer there to cover this portion, you will probably be responsible for the total cost of your coverage.

Author Resource:-

Daniel Stewart has been helping people with their money management and personal finance with over 15 years’ experience in business finance. You can find his thoughts at HSA strategy blog.