Vent: COBRA insurance, seriously??

Nurses General Nursing

Published

So I was laid off last month. Still waiting to get my application for COBRA insurance. I called the number to ask them when it was coming and asked them how much it was going to cost to have me and my husband on COBRA....$1,000 a MONTH just for medical. Seriously??? My unemployment check will not even come close to covering that, not even half! I am not in favor of Obama Care, but today I am seriously wishing some one would come up with a reasonable universal health care...Take my job away so I have no income and expect me to pay THAT for insurance...what are they smoking?

Specializes in Hospice / Ambulatory Clinic.

My issue on cobra was that I had to have exactly the same plan we had when employed. I wouldn't have minded the option to downgrade to a basics only plan. We were on cobra presubsidy so it was alot of money going out the door when nothing was coming in. Bye Bye savings....

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Would you feel the same about a healthcare improvement if you weren't already getting free government-provided healthcare yourself? Do you remember what it's like to spend 20-30% of your AFTER tax income to cover health insurance and related expenses? Do you understand some people are homeless because they had to choose between the treatment to save their life... and their family's home & all their assets? I believe ALL Americans deserve the best of everything. Which is why I believe we can't let citizens suffer & die because we've forged all the plowshares into swords, so to speak.

http://costofwar.com/

Imagine how many American lives we could have saved with just a tiny fraction of that spending.

I dont get tricare, my husband is in the national guard, we pay for our insurance provided by his employer just like everyone else who has benefits from their job. So to answer your question, yes I do know what its like to pay insurance and the 750 dollar family deductible plus the 15% of all services that the insurance doesn't pay. I know that we are fortunate that he has an awesome job and benefits. Yes agree that people are suffering, but I will not let the goverment tell me that I need to have a product or service and be fined thousands of dollars if I don't. I know people who CHOOSE not to have health insurance because their job pays them more for denying health benefits. This is a capitalist society, insurance companies are for-profit and they deem who they offer their services to. Is it fair no, but I think we need to carefully examine the situation find ways to improve the current system and not raise others permiums or taxes to the point where they are afraid that they can't afford feeding their families.

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Specializes in Hospice / Ambulatory Clinic.

Instead of overhauling healthcare why don't we look at medicare and medicaid. They take up about 1/3 of a state's budget and are full of fraud, billions more than private healthcare. An insurance company will not let a doctor over bill for a procedure or even bill for a procedure never done, but this is seen and happens all the time in medicare and medicaid.

Don't worry TTP I'll give him that hug for you :)

If we shifted the emphasis of our system to prevention and maintanice instead of repair I think overall we could service more people for less money.

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I'm a person that has epilepsy and a mental illness. Needless to say there is not any affordable health insurance for me. Plus I've been turned down by the lot od them because of these pre-existing conditions. The only way that I could get health insurance is to go back on disability but I'm not interested in that right now. Right now I owe over $15,000 in bills because of health care costs. There are times that I think that bankrupcy would not be a bad thing however that will not keep the bills from happening in the future. Some days I feel that suicide would make the nightmare go away...

Fuzzy

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Specializes in Home Health.

The comments on medicare and medicaid are spot on. I see the abuse every day but it is mainly medicaid. I see the difference in the amount of services offered to medicaid patients vs medicare patients who are cut off once there 9 week threshhold is reached. They are often left high and dry even though they may need continued services.while medicaid patients are encouraged to use more and more services. It is the old greed factor at work,sorry to say, and many of the agencies we work for encourage this and often frown upon those of us that bring these issues up.

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Specializes in LTC/Rehab, Med Surg, Home Care.

Great, so my option is to never ever look for another job? I just changed jobs but can't get benefits for 90 days. While I can continue with COBRA (and have) with your reasoning, the choices are limited.

1. Stay at the same job, which equals benefits + check

2. Quit and get nothing

Since I want to seek out job advancement and career improvement, neither of these options was acceptable.

I suppose I also could have worked fulltime at both jobs, to avoid paying for COBRA. However, this was also unacceptable to me (although I considered it) because of exhaustion and primarily because it wasn't safe for my patients.

COBRA costs over $10K a year out of pocket. We are uninsurable otherwise because DH has diabetes and I have a congenital foot defect that requires ongoing care.

Are you kidding me? Basically you are saying get a job that offeres health care coverage or tough.

How about our elderly on Medicare? Are you upset about paying for their health care too?

You leave your job, but have the opportunity to purchase insurance at their group rate? I dont see the problem. Do you know what the policy would cost on your own? The perks of working are you get insurance and a paycheck. You leave and both end. If there is universal health care I may just quit my job, because the new administration is willing to pay people to stay at home and get insurance too. Sweet.
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HeartsOpenWide - I hope this situation works out for you. I was laid off from my mortgage job last Sept. I am paying medical for myself and my son, who was born with a cleft lip/palate and needs ongoing care for both surgery, speech therapy, swallow tests, dental, etc. We are only paying $238/month thanks to the Obama plan. I would def. contact your previous job's HR Dept. and ask about the subsidy.

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I'm a person that has epilepsy and a mental illness. Needless to say there is not any affordable health insurance for me. Plus I've been turned down by the lot od them because of these pre-existing conditions. The only way that I could get health insurance is to go back on disability but I'm not interested in that right now. Right now I owe over $15,000 in bills because of health care costs. There are times that I think that bankrupcy would not be a bad thing however that will not keep the bills from happening in the future. Some days I feel that suicide would make the nightmare go away...

Fuzzy

You're so right, it's terrible that right now people have to LEAVE work to go on disability or qualify for Medicaid in order to get lifesaving medications. That's just not good for anyone. Why are people so opposed to extending Medicare- and Medicaid-like benefits to the WORKING poor and middle class? Health care reform isn't about providing more free services to people who don't work; they already qualify for government-subsidized care. It's about closing tax loopholes for the uber-wealthy, most of whom have not actually earned their money, to support the lower middle class who are already struggling so much and cannot afford health insurance and then have to lose everything they have worked for if they get sick. It's about setting the system up to benefit the middle class -- because we are already more than paying for it -- rather than Wall St.

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I hope all those who are NOT for health care reform/public option remember to refuse Medicare when they turn 65 (universal public health care) - then there will no longer be a Medicare shortfall ("Oh! I didn't mean for me - I meant for anyone else!") And may you be uninsured for awhile and have to pay COBRA like I and many of these posters - you will find out in a hurry it's not possible to pay COBRA and your bills. But the REAL problem is the defensive medicine providers have to do to avoid the risk of being sued - heaven forbid you be human and not recognize the disease that affects 1 in 15million people that you did not test for and got sued. Until this gets fixed, there can be no real reform, and affordable insurance.

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Until I see people driving smaller cars, wearing less fancy clothes, get rid of some of their screen tvs, and fancy phones I can not understand people complaining about the cost of insurance. We dont have a problem buying a $1000 tv, but will complain about a $250 deductible for our health. I work in benefits at my job and it floors me when people complain about COBRA or any other costs. It is a high premium...I agree, but is it the company or governments fault that you do not have a savings for times such as this? I would not be able to afford COBRA either , but it is no ones fault but mine. In an economy like this I should have more in savings than I do. Less haircuts, less eating out, less trips to the movie theater. We all have to be prepared.

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I hope all those who are NOT for health care reform/public option remember to refuse Medicare when they turn 65 (universal public health care) - then there will no longer be a Medicare shortfall ("Oh! I didn't mean for me - I meant for anyone else!") And may you be uninsured for awhile and have to pay COBRA like I and many of these posters - you will find out in a hurry it's not possible to pay COBRA and your bills. But the REAL problem is the defensive medicine providers have to do to avoid the risk of being sued - heaven forbid you be human and not recognize the disease that affects 1 in 15million people that you did not test for and got sued. Until this gets fixed, there can be no real reform, and affordable insurance.

I would not refuse Medicare... I worked and PAID for it. I guess I could stop working and still receive the public option without ever working. That does sound better. I can stay home with my kids.

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You're so right, it's terrible that right now people have to LEAVE work to go on disability or qualify for Medicaid in order to get lifesaving medications. That's just not good for anyone. Why are people so opposed to extending Medicare- and Medicaid-like benefits to the WORKING poor and middle class? Health care reform isn't about providing more free services to people who don't work; they already qualify for government-subsidized care. It's about closing tax loopholes for the uber-wealthy, most of whom have not actually earned their money, to support the lower middle class who are already struggling so much and cannot afford health insurance and then have to lose everything they have worked for if they get sick. It's about setting the system up to benefit the middle class -- because we are already more than paying for it -- rather than Wall St.

So your saying the healthcare problem should be solved by the wealthy? I dont like a system that benefits the middle class only , punishing the wealthy. It provides an incentive to always be middle class.

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