My mom lost her job and will be losing her health insurance in 2 weeks!?!?

Question

My mother got fired from work. Well its actually laid off but they called it "termination". Her company that she has been employed with for 8 years let 30% of their staff go. She gets severance pay (she couldnt take unemployment and the severance) They said her insurance will be gone at the end of March. Can they just let her insurance run out like that or can she do anything to get insurance for a short time?

Answer 1

First, they have to offer her Cobra, which she may not be able to afford for too long.  It covers 18 months of insurance at the group rate.  She will have to pay the whole premium there is no employer contribution.

Secondly, she should contact the Dept of Labor because she may still be able to apply for unemployment even with severance pay.

Third, if the family income is low enough she will be able to apply for low cost health insurance through Family Health Plus or Child Health Plus.

Answer 2

She'll probably be eligible for insurance through CORBA which essentially lets terminated employees continue the same level of insurance coverage at their own expense plus a 2% administrative fee.  They can generally continue for at least 12 months.

"At their own expense" is the gotcha.  Her health insurance was probably either subsidized or totally paid for by her employer.  Through CORBA, she'll need to bear the entire cost on her own, and that could be a lot (especially for someone who just lost their job).

Still, it's better than nothing if that's what it takes to cover her until she can get another job with insurance.  People seldom carry CORBA coverage longer than a few months.

She should contact the HR department of the company that let her go and ask about "CORBA continuation".

Answer 3

There ARE certain situations where she is entitled to take out "COBRA", which is supposed to ease the transition from group insurance plans to private policies, but in fact is a big sellout to the major insurance companies. It is vastly overpriced almost universally, and doesn't last all that long. I hold a "215" license, which means that I am licensed to market life and health insurance policies in Florida. I don't know where you live, but if I were in that situation, I would make a note of her favorite doctors and hospital, and then contact companies SUCH AS Humana or Blue Cross to see if she might be able to afford some sort of PPO protection. At least her major medical needs could be taken care of. Don't delay doing this, because she only has so many days to obtain new coverage without having to go through the entire underwriting process. I don't sell anything online, but if you want to at least ask questions, please feel free to email me (same ID). Good luck. I know it IS a very stressful time, but if you don't panic, you can get through this, both insurancewise AND incomewise.