There are two things to look at when leaving the corporate world and having to handle health insurance on your own.
First, if you are leaving at moderately large employer (20 or more employees) with a group health plan, then when you leave you will have the option to purchase continuation coverage. This is usually called COBRA coverage from the old federal law that created this right, a good time ago - the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconcilliation Act.
COBRA coverage is a good news/bad news kind of thing, but do stick with me because there is actual good news at the end.
The good news is that IF your employer has a group health plan and has 20 or more employees, then normally you will have the right to continue on the employer's plan when you leave the company. This is good, since it means that there is no possible risk of having current health issues excluded from coverage.
OK - here is the bad news. You have to pay for it, and the employer will almost certainly not subsidize the coverage any longer. This is where you find out just how expensive health insurance actually is. What you have been paying each month via payroll deduction is usually only a small part of the total cost, which the employer has been subsidizing. Once you are no longer an employee, the employer will stop subsidizing the insurance. This is bad news, because depending your exact circumstances, family size, location, health history etc you may find that the actual cost of your health insurance is something like $1,000 or more a month.
Now, for the other good news. Under recent federal law the cost of COBRA coverage will be subsidized. Basically for now, you will only end up paying about 35% of the actual cost. The rest is subsidized in the form of a tax credit to your former employer. You cut a check for 35% of the actual cost, the employer pays the rest of the cost to the health insurance company, and the employer gets a tax credit. If you read up on the premium subsidy you will see articles saying that the subsidy expired. Recent federal law extended the subsidy, so that it is still active. This is pretty recent development.
Assuming you are eligible for COBRA this will almost certainly be the best deal you will be able to find.
The second option to look at going forward is a high deductible health plan, coupled with a health savings account. An HSA is something like a 401K for medical costs. All the money you put into the HSA is tax deductible and is yours. You take a large deductible on the policy, which helps keep the premium costs down and then use the money you have saved into the HSA to pay (tax free) for medical costs not covered by your health insurance.
While The high deducible health insurance policy will have lower rates than a regular policy, it will still not be cheap. If you are COBRA eligible, the current tax supported premium subsidy is your best bet for now.
OK, just remember - I am a damn lawyer, but not your damn lawyer. Also, the devil is in the details. COBRA coverage is great stuff for ex-employees. But you have to make sure you submit the paperwork on time, and for goodness sake never, never be late paying your COBRA premiums.
I don't practice in Minn, but I have never seen an order like that from a Texas federal court. Some judges are very active in running settlement conferences, and it would not surprise me for them to want to be very certain that there was no waffling about people not having authority at the settlement conference.
But, this order feels like one hacked off judge who is intent on seeing someone very, very senior with each party live and in front of him. In my experience, federal judges are quite capable of delivering world class butt-chewings when they decide you need it. I am happy to say I have only seen, and not been on the receiving end.
The order makes perfect sense, if the judge is convinced that the Plaintiffs are jerking around individuals, by effectively threatening them with the sheer cost of the system. Sure looks like the the judge is making sure the Plaintiffs get a taste of their own medicine, by having to send someone with serious authority - in person - to attend the settlement conference.
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There are two things to look at when leaving the corporate world and having to handle health insurance on your own.
First, if you are leaving at moderately large employer (20 or more employees) with a group health plan, then when you leave you will have the option to purchase continuation coverage. This is usually called COBRA coverage from the old federal law that created this right, a good time ago - the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconcilliation Act.
COBRA coverage is a good news/bad news kind of thing, but do stick with me because there is actual good news at the end.
The good news is that IF your employer has a group health plan and has 20 or more employees, then normally you will have the right to continue on the employer's plan when you leave the company. This is good, since it means that there is no possible risk of having current health issues excluded from coverage.
OK - here is the bad news. You have to pay for it, and the employer will almost certainly not subsidize the coverage any longer. This is where you find out just how expensive health insurance actually is. What you have been paying each month via payroll deduction is usually only a small part of the total cost, which the employer has been subsidizing. Once you are no longer an employee, the employer will stop subsidizing the insurance. This is bad news, because depending your exact circumstances, family size, location, health history etc you may find that the actual cost of your health insurance is something like $1,000 or more a month.
Now, for the other good news. Under recent federal law the cost of COBRA coverage will be subsidized. Basically for now, you will only end up paying about 35% of the actual cost. The rest is subsidized in the form of a tax credit to your former employer. You cut a check for 35% of the actual cost, the employer pays the rest of the cost to the health insurance company, and the employer gets a tax credit. If you read up on the premium subsidy you will see articles saying that the subsidy expired. Recent federal law extended the subsidy, so that it is still active. This is pretty recent development.
Assuming you are eligible for COBRA this will almost certainly be the best deal you will be able to find.
The second option to look at going forward is a high deductible health plan, coupled with a health savings account. An HSA is something like a 401K for medical costs. All the money you put into the HSA is tax deductible and is yours. You take a large deductible on the policy, which helps keep the premium costs down and then use the money you have saved into the HSA to pay (tax free) for medical costs not covered by your health insurance.
While The high deducible health insurance policy will have lower rates than a regular policy, it will still not be cheap. If you are COBRA eligible, the current tax supported premium subsidy is your best bet for now.
OK, just remember - I am a damn lawyer, but not your damn lawyer. Also, the devil is in the details. COBRA coverage is great stuff for ex-employees. But you have to make sure you submit the paperwork on time, and for goodness sake never, never be late paying your COBRA premiums.
I don't practice in Minn, but I have never seen an order like that from a Texas federal court. Some judges are very active in running settlement conferences, and it would not surprise me for them to want to be very certain that there was no waffling about people not having authority at the settlement conference. But, this order feels like one hacked off judge who is intent on seeing someone very, very senior with each party live and in front of him. In my experience, federal judges are quite capable of delivering world class butt-chewings when they decide you need it. I am happy to say I have only seen, and not been on the receiving end. The order makes perfect sense, if the judge is convinced that the Plaintiffs are jerking around individuals, by effectively threatening them with the sheer cost of the system. Sure looks like the the judge is making sure the Plaintiffs get a taste of their own medicine, by having to send someone with serious authority - in person - to attend the settlement conference.