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cobra is costing my dad a fortune
Wed, 09/27/2006 - 18:59Topic: Insurance Issues
I recently had to go on cobra but that will cost my dad a lot of money and I can only stay on it until next june. Does anyone have any suggestions for me?
Comments
Re: Re: cobra is costing my dad a fortune
Submitted by renee6 on Mon, 2007-05-28 - 16:48
renee6
It is nearly impossible to get individual plans from insurance companies as all of them (to my knowledge) go through an underwriter. The underwriters see the risk and the cost and you can forget it. This happened to me three times within a few weeks.
My Cobra expires on May 31 (five days from now), it is not possible to get an extension, I have a few dollars in the bank so I do not qualify for much of anything. Minnesota does have an "insurance plan" for this type of problem, but it resembles self-insurance considering the cost.
When I mentioned to my Neurologist's nurse that I may not have insurance, she said "you will HAVE to have insurance."
I wanted to say: "Well the doctors will just have to help me pay for it."
I really do hope that you are able to find a resolution. There are some out there, it just depends on your patience, determination, and willingness to fight for your rights.
Re: Re: Re: cobra is costing my dad a fortune
Submitted by EarthMonkey on Mon, 2007-06-04 - 00:03
My understanding is that from COBRA the company who is covering you has to take you, however they can choose the coverage. Which can be a big ouch. My memory from COBRA was that I had to reapply to the insurance company, I automatically got to keep the original coverage I was on. I just had to pay full cost. The company had no choice as to whether or not to take me because I transfered while still on COBRA.
Re: cobra is costing my dad a fortune
Submitted by Jersey on Tue, 2007-02-06 - 17:07
You will probably need to find a job that has group coverage-- which is what I had to do (my parents paid the COBRA for the 6 months). As long as you've been continuely covered by insurance while having epilepsy it is not considered a prexisting condition. You can get individual plans but they'll be expensive.