[quote=UCGal][quote=bearishgurl][quote=UCGal] . . . I think this will be good for folks with an entrepreneurial spirit. Even if they have a pre-existing condition, they can leave their corporate health insurance next week. They can go into business for themselves… spurring the economy, creating jobs. (Next week will be 18 months till 1/1/14… so Cobra can tide them over till the pre-existing condition part goes into effect.)
No longer will people be tied to employers *just* for healthcare. This is huge![/quote]
I agree, UCGal, but have you checked the price of COBRA lately? It is typically more per month than your employer even pays for your plan and can be VERY cost-prohibitive, depending on what kind of a plan you have at work. If you currently have a PPO, you may find that an HMO offered by your employer is all you afford at COBRA rates.
18 months at $600-$800 mo (for the ex-employee ONLY) is enough incentive to keep working, IMHO, at least until 2014.
Individual plans can cost less than COBRA, but until 2014, the carriers of these plans are allowed to underwrite them upon application and price them accordingly.[/quote]
It can only be a small percentage (2%) over what the full cost is.
If you had a large employer – they get cheaper rates through economy of scale. If you had a small employer – your overall rates were higher. In that case it might be cheaper to shop around. Assuming no pre-existing conditions.
Trust me – I pay attention not just to the employee rates (subsidized) but the cobra rates – it’s how I know my employer has been steadily increasing the employee paid percentage of the overall cost. With my large employer the cost of Kaiser Permanente (the cheapest option – even cheaper that the High Ded. plan… so the one I’m on) is about 20% via cobra than what KP quotes online. Assuming my family would even qualify… my husband has had knee surgery, is on a staten drug, etc… my son has an all all which might be considered a pre-existing condition….[/quote]
$600 – $800 would be about the mo premium for standard PPO coverage working for a small business of under 50 employees (the vast majority of law firms are small businesses). I know larger firms pay premiums which are significantly less than that (in exchange for more insureds).
UCGal, if you lose your job before your kids reach 18 (or 23 if they are FT college students) and it turns out to be too expensive to insure them thru COBRA, they should be able to get individual coverage for $90-$110 mo ea. This is of course barring anything serious such as being childhood cancer survivors, asthmatic or diabetic, etc.
If they qualify for “Healthy Families” thru the state, the premium is about $37-$54 mo ea … free if the parent(s) are on TANF or any kind of gov’t disability.
