Millions have lost their health insurance in this Pandemic-Driven Recession.
Back in April Nevada’s unemployment rate reached a record of 28.2% according to the U.S. Department of Labor, but there is no data that shows how many lost their health insurance due to the shutdown-related job loss. This information was from an article from the Las Vegas Review Journal.
There have been job reports for May that had suggested the damage of unemployment has slowed down. “The unemployment rate has declined from 14.7% to a still-high 12.3%.” To learn more about the unemployment rate you can take a look at the Las Vegas Review Journal.
COBRA, if offered, may not be an affordable option for individuals and their families.
What is COBRA you may ask?
COBRA is a health insurance program mandated for employers to provide to their employees for groups that have 20 or more fulltime-equivalent employees.
This allows eligible employees and their dependents to continue benefits of health coverage when an employee loses their job or has a reduction of work hours.
The high cost of Cobra is contributed to the loss of the employer’s contribution, having the employee to be fully responsible for monthly premiums. With premium increasing and the employee’s household income decreasing due to deductions of hours or loss of employment may result the employee having to waive their Cobra coverage.
There are a options in lieu COBRA when losing employer coverage.
- Major Medical
- Short Term
- Individual Long Term
- Indemnity Plans
- Catastrophic
- Subsidies to households that qualify
Loss of group coverage will trigger a special enrollment period, individuals can obtain long term coverage if applied for within 60 days from loss of coverage.
Short term coverage is available without a qualifying life event, or special enrollment period and is limited to 6 months of coverage.
It’s important to find someone to navigate through the options, paperwork and potential subsidies. Feel free to contact one of our agents at 702-258-1995.
