Uninsured worst case scenario
April 14, 2022 2:56 PM Subscribe
I left a job last month and my health insurance ended on 31Mar. I started a new job last week and my new health insurance starts on 01May. Now I have COVID-19. What do I do?
I haven't received any COBRA info from my previous employer yet, so I don't know how to sign up. Worst case scenario, what if I need urgent care in the next two weeks? Would you pay for supplemental insurance instead of waiting for COBRA to come through?
Yay for the US healthcare system. /s
I haven't received any COBRA info from my previous employer yet, so I don't know how to sign up. Worst case scenario, what if I need urgent care in the next two weeks? Would you pay for supplemental insurance instead of waiting for COBRA to come through?
Yay for the US healthcare system. /s
Anything that would have been covered under your old insurance should be reimbursable once your COBRA kicks in. Get the medical care you need.
posted by hworth at 7:28 PM on April 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by hworth at 7:28 PM on April 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
If there is any chance whatsoever you might qualify... you might consider applying for Medicaid. The worst they can do is tell you no. And you ought to be able to do it from the device you're using. There is NO harm in applying and being denied, just the time it takes out of your life to apply.
If you don't apply, and all else fails, and you do end up very sick and miss starting that new job on time... it's generally 30 days retroactive, provided, y'know, that you're well enough to fill out the application at that point.
And... if you're approved, and the Cobra comes through, I believe that the Cobra would then be primary and the Medicaid secondary, much as anyone else with a primary insurer and Medicaid that covers the remainder.
And last thing... hospitals do often have financial help afterwards, as a final resort. Catch is, you have to seek it out.
posted by stormyteal at 11:51 PM on April 14, 2022
If you don't apply, and all else fails, and you do end up very sick and miss starting that new job on time... it's generally 30 days retroactive, provided, y'know, that you're well enough to fill out the application at that point.
And... if you're approved, and the Cobra comes through, I believe that the Cobra would then be primary and the Medicaid secondary, much as anyone else with a primary insurer and Medicaid that covers the remainder.
And last thing... hospitals do often have financial help afterwards, as a final resort. Catch is, you have to seek it out.
posted by stormyteal at 11:51 PM on April 14, 2022
If there is any chance whatsoever you might qualify... you might consider applying for Medicaid. The worst they can do is tell you no. And you ought to be able to do it from the device you're using. There is NO harm in applying and being denied, just the time it takes out of your life to apply.
Having had some very recent experience with COBRA / Medicaid / New insurance - some caveats and very important things to watch for.
If you are on COBRA, there's a period that is generally covered free, and then it'll switch over to payments to continue that same coverage. The way COBRA *used* to work, once it hit that pay period you can just not pay and the coverage will end automatically after a month, with no action required on your part. Due to some COVID legislation over the last year or two, that period before cancellation occurs automatically is one YEAR - if you end up wanting to pay to use the COBRA insurance during that stretch, I believe you'll get back-billed for the premiums.
The key thing to note during all of this is that whatever insurance you had that is extended under COBRA will be considered your Primary Insurer, EVEN IF YOU HAVEN'T PAID THE PREMIUMS.
Enter Medicaid - if you apply for Medicaid, you may find out that it will be approved **if you don't have any other coverage**. However, once the other coverage ends, the Medicaid application will fire back up automatically and get you enrolled in their coverage plan.
Enter your new insurance from a job or whatever other source - if you deliberately start a new plan with the idea that the COBRA coverage will expire automatically, that new plan may believe itself to NOT be the Primary Insurer, even if you're paying the premiums. They may, in fact, be very deliberately obfuscatory about that, leading you to suddenly wonder why you've got months of claims that are all listed as DENIED even though the new provider (say, CIGNA) hasn't explicitly mentioned any of that to you.
And then, when you finally find out what's going on after three or four calls to your new plan, you can call COBRA and tell them to properly cancel the phantom coverage and backdate the plan end date so your new plan will start footing the bill properly. It will take them a few weeks to sort out all of the coverage period transfer info with your new insurer.
That's when the Medicaid application you forgot about will finally say "oh you no longer have COBRA coverage! Time for me to take effect!" and you'll find yourself with a heap of "welcome to your new plan" documentation in the mail from an insurance company you've never heard of, who also won't let you cancel THAT plan directly with them without going through Social Services first to deal with the Medicaid office. This will also take several weeks to resolve.
note: every time i typed 'you' i meant 'i' in increasingly frustrated howls
posted by FatherDagon at 10:39 AM on April 15, 2022
Having had some very recent experience with COBRA / Medicaid / New insurance - some caveats and very important things to watch for.
If you are on COBRA, there's a period that is generally covered free, and then it'll switch over to payments to continue that same coverage. The way COBRA *used* to work, once it hit that pay period you can just not pay and the coverage will end automatically after a month, with no action required on your part. Due to some COVID legislation over the last year or two, that period before cancellation occurs automatically is one YEAR - if you end up wanting to pay to use the COBRA insurance during that stretch, I believe you'll get back-billed for the premiums.
The key thing to note during all of this is that whatever insurance you had that is extended under COBRA will be considered your Primary Insurer, EVEN IF YOU HAVEN'T PAID THE PREMIUMS.
Enter Medicaid - if you apply for Medicaid, you may find out that it will be approved **if you don't have any other coverage**. However, once the other coverage ends, the Medicaid application will fire back up automatically and get you enrolled in their coverage plan.
Enter your new insurance from a job or whatever other source - if you deliberately start a new plan with the idea that the COBRA coverage will expire automatically, that new plan may believe itself to NOT be the Primary Insurer, even if you're paying the premiums. They may, in fact, be very deliberately obfuscatory about that, leading you to suddenly wonder why you've got months of claims that are all listed as DENIED even though the new provider (say, CIGNA) hasn't explicitly mentioned any of that to you.
And then, when you finally find out what's going on after three or four calls to your new plan, you can call COBRA and tell them to properly cancel the phantom coverage and backdate the plan end date so your new plan will start footing the bill properly. It will take them a few weeks to sort out all of the coverage period transfer info with your new insurer.
That's when the Medicaid application you forgot about will finally say "oh you no longer have COBRA coverage! Time for me to take effect!" and you'll find yourself with a heap of "welcome to your new plan" documentation in the mail from an insurance company you've never heard of, who also won't let you cancel THAT plan directly with them without going through Social Services first to deal with the Medicaid office. This will also take several weeks to resolve.
note: every time i typed 'you' i meant 'i' in increasingly frustrated howls
posted by FatherDagon at 10:39 AM on April 15, 2022
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It might be worth a call to HR at your old employer and see if they can put you in touch with the COBRA administrator - I know it takes a while to process but if a phone call can speed things up, you might sleep better.
posted by metahawk at 3:04 PM on April 14, 2022 [20 favorites]