Does No More Job Mean No More Insurance?

• Author: Rafter, Dan
• Position: LIFE IN AMERICA

"The challenge of finding new health insurance might become more common across the country thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic." IF YOU ARE LIKE many in the U.S., your employer provides you with health insurance coverage. The 2019 Kaiser Family Foundation Employer Health Benefits Survey found that about 153,000,000 Americans were relying on employer-sponsored health insurance, but what happens if you lose your job?

The challenge of finding new health insurance might become more common across the country thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Deb Gordon, a former health insurance chief marketing officer based in Cambridge, Mass., and author of The Health Care Consumer's Manifesto: How to Get the Most for Your Money, says that a growing number of people might have to search out new options as the country's unemployment rate rises because of the pandemic. "There are already tens of millions of people without insurance in this country. The pandemic just exacerbates the problem and shines a bright light on it," she notes.

What are your options if you do lose your job and your employer's health insurance? The most-common safety net for people who lose their employer's health insurance is COBRA, which came about thanks to the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act.

If you lose your job for reasons other than gross misconduct, you, your spouse, and your dependent children are eligible for COBRA health insurance for 18 months. This form of insurance is meant as a temporary solution, a bridge to keep you covered until you find a new job and a new employer-provided health insurance plan.

Even if you could keep COBRA for longer than 18 months, you might not want to. This insurance is expensive since you are responsible for paying 100% of the monthly cost that your employer formerly provided. You also are responsible for an administrative fee, which can run as high as two percent. The Kaiser survey found that the annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage hit $20,576.

Created as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, your state or Federal health insurance marketplace can provide relief, too. It offers individual and family health coverage, providing plans frequendy known as ObamaCare. This insurance is designed for people who do not have access to health insurance through a job or other avenue.

There are open enrollment periods for ObamaCare, but even if you have missed this period, you still can sign up for coverage through...