Health Insurance and Benefits Question

AlliSeeisBrown

Well-Known Member
I've tried googling this and can't really find an answer that fits the bill. I may not find it here either but maybe someone has been or is in the same boat as I am.

Long story short, I lost my my benefits from a corporate lay off May of 2016. I was offered COBRA but declined due to the extremely high costs. I started with UPS June 2016. As everyone knows, you have to wait a year for benefits to be available to you.
I have been without insurance since May. I know it's dumb to not even have a catastrophic plan, but I had to do what I had to do.

Now that open enrollment is around I have been looking at plans to carry me until June but the cheapest catastrophic plan is still $250 a month. If you decide not to enroll in coverage and go without health insurance, there is a penalty of $695 or 2.5% of your annual income, whichever is higher.

The question: If I decide to NOT enroll in health coverage from the marketplace and WAIT until June to where I can get coverage from the company, will I still be fined the penalty for lack of coverage? Also, do you have to be a member of the union to take advantage of the free benefits? If you are not part of the union, does the company still offer a coverage plan to PT employees after a year?

Any help/insight is much appreciated.
 
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