COBRA Coverage Question

[PPH_over_9000]

Long story short, I'm a weak sissy and took a voluntary lay-off. Well aware my coverage is going to lapse for a bit, so I'm going for temporary COBRA coverage. I'm reading into it now but was curious before I delve into a headache of legalese, is the coverage the same provided by the union or is it a different package?

 

[rod]

Long story short, I'm a weak sissy and took a voluntary lay-off. Well aware my coverage is going to lapse for a bit, so I'm going for temporary COBRA coverage. I'm reading into it now but was curious before I delve into a headache of legalese, is the coverage the same provided by the union or is it a different package?

Be prepared to pay through the nose for it. There are far cheaper plans available than COBRA.

 

[HubSnakeWrangler]

I think it depends what plan you're covered under. I'm in western conference with southwest administrators handling benefits. One punch a week keeps coverage here. It was $303 a week for all same and continuous coverage- med, dental, vision - in April when I missed deadline to switch from short term to long term disability.

 

[Commercial Inside Release]

COBRA is just the name of a government program that preserves the existing insurance you were receiving through work. So it is the same coverage, by the same provider. But, now you are paying the full (retail, non-group) cost yourself. As mentioned above, it will probably be more than $1200\month for an individual.

If they will work with you on how your absence is coded on your time card, you might still be able to receive (employer paid) coverage. A few hours of vacation pay, paid out each week, would keep your benefits alive. Some locals have leave of absence, maybe that can get you coded right to stilo receive benefits.

FMLA could get you quite a few weeks of paid coverage.
You probably should have talked to a steward -- you need to, if you are not laid off already.

 

[PPH_over_9000]

COBRA is just the name of a government program that preserves the existing insurance you were receiving through work. So it is the same coverage, by the same provider. But, now you are paying the full (retail, non-group) cost yourself. As mentioned above, it will probably be more than $1200\month for an individual.

If they will work with you on how your absence is coded on your time card, you might still be able to receive (employer paid) coverage. A few hours of vacation pay, paid out each week, would keep your benefits alive. Some locals have leave of absence, maybe that can get you coded right to stilo receive benefits.

FMLA could get you quite a few weeks of paid coverage.
You probably should have talked to a steward -- you need to, if you are not laid off already.

Good to know everybody, I appreciate all the perspectives. Yeah, i got a piece of mail that outlined what I would pay to stay covererd, it just didn't specify if my coverage stayed the same.

Awesome, this is an easy one. I'll just eat the cost for a month or two until I recover enough work hours after this lay-off.
Thanks again y'all, but if anybody know any similar options providing similar temporary coverage that are cheaper than I'm all ear. I just chipped the hell out of a tooth and just in case they decide to extract i need to make sure i'm covered.

Classic Murphy's Law, man, but it's all cuz I'm a lazy slacker so meh.

 

[ManInBrown]

Long story short, I'm a weak sissy and took a voluntary lay-off. Well aware my coverage is going to lapse for a bit, so I'm going for temporary COBRA coverage. I'm reading into it now but was curious before I delve into a headache of legalese, is the coverage the same provided by the union or is it a different package?

Same exact coverage. Hope you have a small fortune saved up to pay for it.

 

[Staydryitsraining]

Long story short, I'm a weak sissy and took a voluntary lay-off. Well aware my coverage is going to lapse for a bit, so I'm going for temporary COBRA coverage. I'm reading into it now but was curious before I delve into a headache of legalese, is the coverage the same provided by the union or is it a different package?

A volunteer lay off that is so long you don't have health insurance?

 

[Commercial Inside Release]

Awesome, this is an easy one.

Listen to your elders... You are dabbling in something that can get real, very quick.
Some cheapskates are slackers, but all slackers are cheapskates.

Being a slacker can be a ton of work, especially for a guy. It takes nerves of steel, fortitude to withstand the pressure, lots of planning, tedious budgeting, and a blatant disregard for society's opinions. Once friends & family label you a slacker, that is what you'll always be, in their opinion.

$1200/mo is a lot to burn. No true slacker would ever do that... And the people that made the COBRA policy know it.

 

[PPH_over_9000]

A volunteer lay off that is so long you don't have health insurance?

You need a certain amount of hours per month to maintain insurance. If you have an entire dead week with no reports then, while I do believe it's possible, it's almost inevitable you'll lose your coverage until you meet their minimum requirements by the next period at the earliest.

 

[PPH_over_9000]

Listen to your elders... You are dabbling in something that can get real, very quick.
Some cheapskates are slackers, but all slackers are cheapskates.

Being a slacker can be a ton of work, especially for a guy. It takes nerves of steel, fortitude to withstand the pressure, lots of planning, tedious budgeting, and a blatant disregard for society's opinions. Once friends & family label you a slacker, that is what you'll always be, in their opinion.

$1200/mo is a lot to burn. No true slacker would ever do that... And the people that made the COBRA policy know it.

And also, you're right. The payments were quoted to me as $400 and some change however, but in the end I spoke to a pleasant woman in the union hall and only had to make up the difference of ~$40-and-some-change to maintain coverage.

I honestly just panicked when I saw that stuff in the mail, but apparently they just keep accruing and sending them out if you don't ever speak to them.

 

[MattM]

I’m in the western region.

I believe our insurance has weekly eligibility, so you need compensable hours to maintain insurance. But you gain it back the second you return from your scheduled lay off

So unless you had claims, appointments, or prescriptions during the small unpaid time frame; why would one need to pay anything at all? Am I missing something?

Years back they let use schedule option days during the last week of the year. Problem is, the company automatically paid us all out the first week of December. So a number of us basically had a whole week of unpaid leave. Add in missing holiday pay (because you too need earned monies during that holiday week to get holiday pay). We all got letters from our insurance about a lapse

So now, if you have to miss a week unpaid, don’t schedule appointments, have claims made, or have prescriptions come out. And hope you don’t get into an accident

But otherwise, why pay for the lapse?

Is the western region unique?

 

[PPH_over_9000]

I’m in the western region.

I believe our insurance has weekly eligibility, so you need compensable hours to maintain insurance. But you gain it back the second you return from your scheduled lay off

So unless you had claims, appointments, or prescriptions during the small unpaid time frame; why would one need to pay anything at all? Am I missing something?

Years back they let use schedule option days during the last week of the year. Problem is, the company automatically paid us all out the first week of December. So a number of us basically had a whole week of unpaid leave. Add in missing holiday pay (because you too need earned monies during that holiday week to get holiday pay). We all got letters from our insurance about a lapse

So now, if you have to miss a week unpaid, don’t schedule appointments, have claims made, or have prescriptions come out. And hope you don’t get into an accident

But otherwise, why pay for the lapse?

Is the western region unique?

I don't think you missed anything, bud. I think I opened this thread not really understanding the situation correctly.

Yall've all been helpful though.

 

[MattM]

I think it depends what plan you're covered under. I'm in western conference with southwest administrators handling benefits. One punch a week keeps coverage here. It was $303 a week for all same and continuous coverage- med, dental, vision - in April when I missed deadline to switch from short term to long term disability.

Reading the wr177 website and the verify compensable time portion, unless you have claims for the ‘missing’ week,’you can simply state you accept responsibility for any new claims or elect for COBRA.

——
If you agree that you had no compensable time or qualified leave, please select one of the following.
I did not work during this week or have any compensable leave time and I accept responsibility for any claims incurred during this week.
I did not work during this week and I would like to elect COBRA coverage for the applicable coverage week(s). I will complete the COBRA election form and pay the weekly self-pay rate.
Note: COBRA payments are weekly and must be made retroactively to the date of loss of coverage.
——

Whatever coverage you have, look into the verify compensable time table/chart. As long as you didn’t have an appointment or any claims, you may not even need the added $400 coverage, or whatever the cost is.

 

[nWo]

 

[Commercial Inside Release]

Doubt that $40 difference is accurate.
The pic above is what it'll cost.
If you only going to be on COBRA for a week or three, just avoid any medical services, lay low, and let the coverage lapse.

Coverage will pick up where it left off as soon as you punch in.

 

[PPH_over_9000]

View attachment 443049

Yeah, those are more the numbers the woman at the union hall quoted that I remember.

I guess I got worried because I forgot to look before I leapt, and I need to get a few teeth fixed (its not serious now, i just would like not to have to wait until they start bringing pliers around me) and I kind of want to get my eyes checked out, get some new glasses.

All things I should've had foresight with. Problem was, I didn't expect to find several letters about needing COBRA in my mailbox this past Monday. Been handling other things this week but when I finally got around to this I felt like I ran into a few roadbloacks so I figured it couldn't hurt too much to come here for guidance.


**I DO THINK I HAVE IT FIGURED OUT FOR THE MOMENT. From what I understood, all I currently owed was a small fee to make up the difference between what the union covered and, due to a shortage of hours, what I needed to cover. I definitely suspect, however, that after taking this past week off as a dead week I'll be facing this situation again shortly. That made it seem even more important that I understand how this stuff works in case I ever do have to utilize it in the future,

 

[bumped]

When I was young and single and get laid off in February, I would take the month off with unemployment. I never received my COBRA information until after my month was over. I never had any medical issues during the month, so I never paid the COBRA. How are you getting the COBRA before you even take the week off?

 

[PPH_over_9000]

When I was young and single and get laid off in February, I would take the month off with unemployment. I never received my COBRA information until after my month was over. I never had any medical issues during the month, so I never paid the COBRA. How are you getting the COBRA before you even take the week off?

(TL;DR at bottom)

So I slack on keeping up with my mail. Last week I started going through a huge stack and found two letters dated differently informing me that I was short on hours and if I wanted to enroll in COBRA then my monthly payment would be [x] for medical or [x] for medical/vision/dental.

One was from last year, but the other said that I needed to make my deicision by 09/23/23-- so like I said, I kind of panicked and started asking the wrong questions to the wrong people. As far as I know right now that, everything's situated. I just gotta work more hours every week to avoid these dumb situations, I guess.

I only mentioned anything about my voluntary lay-off this week because I've been told by co-workers in my building that when you take that weeklong layoff your insurance is absolutely, unequivocably, 100% going to lapse until you're able to meet the requirements during the next period.

TL;DR -- To be clear, I haven't received any mail prior to or ever since being asked if I wanted the week off that's related to anything about this week off. All the papers that set this in motion were saying that I just didn't have enough hours (one was dated in 2021, but the other was sent like less than a month ago) and had to either make up the difference out-of-pocket or go for COBRA, and my dumba$$ only focused on the COBRA part. The union hall was super helpful in dealing with my ignorance.

 

[nWo]

Just don't go to the Dr or get injuried until you are back on teamcare

 

[burrheadd]

A volunteer lay off that is so long you don't have health insurance?

1 punch a week to keep health Insurance