Florida COBRA health insurance is important for anyone in the state to know about if they are in danger of losing their FL healthcare insurance in the near future or have recently lost it.
Read on to learn about COBRA health insurance options in FL. Should you take the Florida COBRA health plan offer? What alternatives to COBRA insurance are there? Implementing Florida COBRA health insurance will keep you and your family protected from the potential financial ruin that high health care costs can turn into but there may also me some cheaper alternatives to COBRA if you are fairly healthy.
Before you lose your health coverage, take a look at this coverage and learn just what FL COBRA Health Insurance is all about. Also, learn how to decide if you should take your COBRA offer or if you should purchase a Florida individual health insurance plan that can often be much cheaper (but with different requirements). It just may be the best news you have heard lately.
Florida COBRA Health Insurance Definition
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), is a Federal program that provides for individuals to extend their group health insurance coverage for a period of time when they are about to lose it or have recently lost it. It provides people with time to find another job offering health insurance or to find some other type of policy and have it kick in, so there is no downtime when the individual in uninsured.
If the company with whom you have the insurance has more than 20 employees, you are eligible for COBRA health insurance and have 60 days after you are no longer eligible to have your coverage continued. If the company has fewer than 20 employees, you are potentially mini-COBRA eligible and have 30 days to continue your coverage.
If you are not mini-COBRA eligible and you have health issues that will prevent you from being accepted onto a fully underwritten individual health insurance plan then you may be eligible for a guaranteed issue Florida HIPAA health insurance plan.
Florida COBRA Health Insurance: Much More Expensive than Individual Health Insurance
While it is certainly true that accepting the FL COBRA health insurance offer may end up costing you quite a bit more in health insurance premiums than purchasing a similar Florida individual health insurance plan on the open market it is also true that COBRA can be a great option for those who have health problems and are unable to qualify for an individual plan. Here are some people who may be a good fit for a COBRA health plan:
- Those who are about to lose health insurance due to separation/divorce
- Retirees
- Those who quit their jobs or are fired (unless it is for gross misconduct)
- People whose hours have been reduced
- Those who lose health insurance because of the death of the policyholder
- The policyholder becoming eligible for Medicare
- Those no longer being considered a dependant of the policyholder
COBRA allows individuals to ensure that they have medical coverage for themselves and their families. However, it does not come cheap. Typically group insurance for employees is subsidized in part by the employer paying a portion of the costs.
However, under COBRA, the beneficiary himself will be paying the entire costs of the premiums and will have a much higher out-of-pocket expense than he would otherwise. COBRA was established as a protective measure and is meant to provide a temporary solution to the problem of being uninsured. Coverage is for a maximum of 18 or 36 months after you become eligible for COBRA.
The only time one should ever accept an employer’s COBRA health insurance plan offer is if the individual is so unhealthy that they are unable to purchase a much cheaper Florida individual health insurance plan on the open market.
Florida COBRA Health Insurance Extends Medical Coverage Only
- Doctor care
- Drug and other pharmaceutical needs
- Hospitalization and outpatient hospital care
- Surgery and other serious medical costs
- Dental and vision coverage
Other types of insurance such as life insurance, long-term care insurance, auto, and home insurance are not eligible for COBRA extensions.
COBRA is a law that protects you from becoming medically uninsured, however it is very expensive. If you are faced with needing to use the COBRA law, get the appropriate paperwork from the employer through whom you had the group coverage. This should inform you of the cost of maintaining it.
Accept the coverage as a temporary measure to make sure that the opportunity does not slip by, because the opportunity for enrollment it will expire within 30 or 60 days of the qualifying event. Immediately start looking around for alternative temporary health insurance coverage. Such plans are usually much less expensive than COBRA and may be a great short-term fix, until you can get on another group policy. If you are having problems finding coverage, ask one of our Florida health insurance experts and they should be able to refer you to a program that will cover you.
Extending group coverage is important for most anyone, who finds himself suddenly without it. However, for those with pre-existing health conditions, who are pregnant or have other health concerns, it is imperative. Extending the group coverage can make a huge difference to their financial stability and maintaining their lifestyle both from a healthcare point of view and from a monetary point of view. For some people it may even be lifesaving in that often those who are without health insurance avoid getting medical care, even when they need it for fear of the cost.
Compare Florida COBRA Health Insurance Options Now!
Florida COBRA health insurance provides a good temporary alternative when life throws a curveball leaving you without insurance BUT one should only enroll in COBRA if they have major health issues.
There are many different options for those being faced with a COBRA health insurance plan offer from a FL employer. Use our free quote tool at the top of the page to compare instant Florida health insurance quotes from competing insurance companies.