Danner, of My SA News, reported in an article entitled Jobless may face loss of health coverage that “without [government] subsidy, the average monthly cost of COBRA coverage for Texas families of three or more jumps from $373 to $1081…[which is over 75%] of the average monthly unemployment compensation benefit” (2009).

What is COBRA?

According to the United States Department of Labor, “COBRA provides certain former employees, retirees, spouses, former spouses, and dependent children the right to temporary continuation of health coverage at group rates. This coverage, however, is only available when coverage is lost due to certain specific events. Group health coverage for COBRA participants is usually more expensive than health coverage for active employees, since usually the employer pays a part of the premium for active employees while COBRA participants generally pay the entire premium themselves” (2009). Therefore, without the government subsidy, provided by the stimulus bill passed in February; COBRA is still too expensive for those it is intended to help.

In addition, there are millions of Americans who will choose to drop health insurance coverage due to the rising costs of health care premiums, the inability to obtain affordable health insurance with their new employer, or simply the lack of confidence in coverage provided by their current provider.

So what are your options?

If you or someone you know is facing a decision concerning whether or not to change or to end their current insurance coverage, please contact a health insurance expert at Custom Health Plans to discuss short term health insurance options or get an online quote, by comparing the top health insurance plans and benefits in order to find the most affordable health plan at http://customhealthplans.com

References:

Danner, P. (2009, December 3). In My SA News. Jobless may face loss of health coverage. Retrieved from http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/78388327.html

U. S. Department of Labor. (n.d.). FAQs for employees about COBRA continuation health coverage. Retrieved on December 4, 2009, from http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_cobra.HTML

This entry was posted on Friday, December 4th, 2009 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Health Insurance News, Individual Health Insurance, Texas health insurance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.