Health Insurance When Leaving/Starting a Job

May 11, 2022 6:07 PM

Mr. Tuesday has a new job--Yay! But how do we work the health insurance end/beginning between old job and new job?

Mr. Tuesday's first day on new job is May 31. Health insurance coverage will begin June 1st.

Old job says health insurance coverage ends at 11:59 PM on the last day you are employed. So if he was planning for his last day to be May 25, that would mean he (and our family) would be without health insurance coverage until June 1st.

How do people normally manage this? I am aware that COBRA can be purchased retroactively. So do we just cross our fingers, hope we don't need it, and wait? Or what?

posted by tuesdayschild to Work & Money (6 answers total)

Best answer: Here are the details of how COBRA works. You have 60 days after you received notice to elect coverage and the coverage will be retroactive to the day that the employer sponsored insurance ended. So what would happen is that if you really, really need to use your insurance between the last day of work and June 1st, you go ahead and do what you need to do, elect COBRA as soon as you get the forms and then get reimbursed afterwards. (You might even try giving the doctor your old insurance information - it takes time to update the databases so by the time they realize you weren't covered under the old plan, the COBRA would be in place.)
posted by metahawk at 6:21 PM on May 11, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Hi! I used COBRA once, retroactively. I am a real live person who did this, in exactly your situation!

Here is what happened:

- I left my job
- I had a new job (in another country that has universal healthcare) but hadn't started it yet
- I decided to do what you are asking (hope I wouldn't need it).
- 5 weeks after I left my job, I had an extreme migraine that caused concerning symptoms. I was with my best friend who is a nurse. She insisted that I go to urgent care because it might be a stroke.
- The urgent care didn't have the tools to do the imaging I needed so I was sent to the E.R.
- I got a bill for $5,000.
- I had to pay for TWO months of retroactive insurance via COBRA because I was in the 2nd month.
- I wrote the check and saved myself $4k!

One thing to note, if you were in the position where you needed to get medical care between 5/25 and 5/31 in your scenario, is that you might need to be prepared to show that you can pay before an urgent care will treat you.

Honestly the most frustrating thing in the entire experience for me, was that as I was frightened that I might be having a stroke and losing my eyesight, I had to fish my credit card out of my wallet and sign a paper that said I promised to pay, because I didn't have insurance.

AMERICA!
posted by pazazygeek at 7:05 PM on May 11, 2022 [8 favorites]

Just did this 18 months ago. nthing what others have said - went without it and was ready with COBRA if needed.
posted by getawaysticks at 9:14 PM on May 11, 2022

I’ve always taken the retroactive COBRA option to bridge gaps, but I’ve never had to use it. The people I know who have had to use it have found the bureaucracy annoying but they all eventually were reimbursed.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 10:22 PM on May 11, 2022

Hi I am doing this right now. Yesterday was my last day. I will start on Monday and my access to insurance won't kick in until July. I have some travel planned between now and the new insurance access date (planes, driving in places I don't typically drive, swimming in the ocean) and I decided to buy short-term medical coverage, in my case thru United Healthcare. For me, this is not cost-prohibitive, but if something happens, I feel more comfortable. In the past I've filled out and put a stamp on the COBRA paperwork, left it near the front door, and hoped.
posted by Medieval Maven at 4:42 AM on May 12, 2022

I'm a health insurance lawyer and I'm about to take advantage of the COBRA election loophole for a 2.5 week gap (in addition to the regular election time, the Outbreak Period deadline extensions currently provide a further extension, until the announced end of the National Emergency or one year, which happens first).
posted by Pax at 6:07 AM on May 12, 2022