Losing employer coverage can be scary, especially when you’ve always secured it through a job and don’t know how to go about finding it on your own. This is the reason that many employers offer an alternative route to insure after termination of a job.
How Long is Health Insurance Active After Termination/ Quitting?
Once your position at a job has ended, your health insurance usually runs out at the end of the fiscal month (meaning when the next payment for the premium is due) regardless of what point in the month your employment ended. For this reason, it is important to start looking into health insurance options prior to the termination of a position (if you are aware the employment will end.)
How Does COBRA Insurance Work?
Some employers may offer a health care package called COBRA as an alternative to employer coverage. However the cost of a COBRA plan can be expensive and only lasts 6 months after employment has ended. Nonetheless, the coverage that COBRA offers is high quality and will cover any major medical pre-existing conditions.
If you have been terminated from a job, you will qualify for special enrollment – meaning you can still secure a health care plan on the public marketplace outside of open enrollment due to a life qualifying event. This is extremely beneficial to anyone who might need financial assistance or coverage for a major medical condition.
You can also enroll in private market plans year round, or – if you’re simply in between jobs, you can enroll in a short term plan for as long as you need (but this is only recommended for 3-6 months at the most as benefits are limited.
Worker Compensation
Workers’ comp is a completely separate form of insurance than Health Insurance. While many full comprehensive health care plans will cover injuries that take place at work – workers comp provides money or living benefits to a person who is incapable of continuing work due to a medical accident that took place as a result of working or while physically at work.
These benefits are either offered and paid for by the employer, or can be secured through third party insurance brokers (separate from a health care insurance broker).
Whether you’ve quit, or been terminated, deciding what health insurance you need can be daunting, especially if you’ve never done it before. Remember that there’s no need to make the search without assistance, and simply ask the Art of Insurance.
