Ask HN: What do I do about Health Insurance after quitting my job?

[bestnoodles]

As the title states, I'm thinking of leaving my job to pursue my personal projects for 3 months, but my biggest uncertainty and apprehension is health insurance.

I'm pretty lost in this: there's a lot of literature but no clear answer, and I'm not sure what the new regulations are under obamacare...

What's a simple, affordable way to make sure I'm covered?

Thanks!

[dredmorbius]

Where are you located?

COBRA is the standard answer. The ACA provides for coverage, though the general enrollment period has closed for this year. I'm not sure if a job transition counts as a qualifying event for a new enrollment, but there are counsellors (free of charge) in some states who can answer your questions on that.

My experience is that there tend to be a few tiers of coverage, and that you'll want to balance your anticipated healthcare needs with the dues. From what I've seen, middle-tier coverage tends to be the best bet.

[tptacek]

COBRA is not a great answer. The better your benefits were on the job, the worse a deal COBRA will be for you; you'll be paying the employer's costs as well as your own. COBRA also has a time limit, which isn't a great property for an insurance plan.

As I understand it, you can in fact file a special enrollment with HEALTHCARE.GOV if you've recently lost your insurance. That's probably going to be a much better option.

Consider signing up for a "bronze" plan --- the cheapest available with a provider network you like --- and setting up an HSA. High-deductible insurance and an HSA is probably always a better deal than premium insurance: you take the money you'd plow into higher premiums and stick it in the HSA, which rolls over year over year. If you don't, say, lose your appendix this year, you get free money.

[bestnoodles]

I'm 24, male, living in the bay area. Any rough estimates on how much COBRA would cost?

[dredmorbius]

That will be specified in the COBRA paperwork you receive, talk to your benefits coordinator / HR person.

You'll want to compare costs with what you might be able to purchase outside of COBRA. I'd suggest taking a look at the Covered California website or getting a quote from Kaiser:

open https://individual-family.kaiserpermanente.org/healthinsuran...

I've tried doing that with the information you've provided but find the websites aren't cooperating with me (that's been an ongoing failing of the health plan(s) in general).

I suspect you'll be paying under $300/mo for a silver plan.

See also:

http://www.healthpocket.com/individual-health-insurance/silv...

[idlewords]

My guess is you'll find plans in the 200-300/month range unless you have hereditary boneitis.

One thing to watch out for is that teeth and eyes are often covered seperately, for some unknown reason.

[tptacek]

Pedantry:

That's because teeth and eyes have predictable and often high maintenance costs that general medicine doesn't. It's hard to cost-effectively insure teeth, for instance, because you're almost certain to incur routine and expensive costs. Expensive general medical interventions are much less predictable and frequent and so that risk pools nicely.

That's also why private dental insurance is often not a good deal.

[idlewords]

This is one reason why I think the concept of private insurance, vs state-provided health care, is insane. It's not like teeth and eyes are fancy upgrades that some of us blinged out on.

Clearly the first step towards nationalized health care is me commenting on a message board. Avanti!

[tptacek]

I agree that it's a stark illustration of the limits of the insurance model. Nationalizing the health care industry is itself fraught, though.

I remember a Gladwell New Yorker essay that related dental care to poverty and economic mobility, so I'll add right away that this isn't a small problem.

[ja27]

If you can afford it, COBRA. That saves you quite a bit of time and energy finding a new plan and minimizes or eliminates surprises like changes in coverage or needing to change doctors. For only a 3 month window, as long as you're relatively healthy (and are certain you will not get pregnant) I'd take the gamble and go without insurance, but I'm a gambler. From my experiences, the stress of not having coverage is pretty comparable to the stress of enrolling in a new ACA plan.

Depending on your work, you can also inquire about taking a leave of absence. I've worked with a couple of people that have done that. Most never returned but some did.

[chrisBob]

If you are going without health insurance check on your car insurance policy. Mine does not cover my own injuries because I have a good health insurance plan right now, but you might want to add $100k of driver/passenger coverage to your plan.

[noahc]

You first might want to start investigating COBRA. A good place to start is http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-consumer-cobra.html.

[drewvolpe]

The simplest option is to pay for the plan you currently are on through COBRA. This guarantees you 18 months of coverage at whatever rate your employer currently pays for you. This what my founders and I did for our last startup. It does require you have enough saved up to cover the cost yourself, but it's very simple and easy, and you keep everything the same.

You could also see if you qualify for a cheaper plan. Go to HealthCare.gov and enter your information and you'll get a list of plans and what they cost.

[cabo14]

I can help you as I sell health insurance...You may be eligible for a subsidy...I am a Licensed and bonded agent. I can answer many questions for you if you want to talk. You will not want Cobra as it will be more expensive then you need to pay. Remember Cobra is the full cost of your Insurance with no help from your employer. [e-mail]

[ApolloRising]

Kaiser offers some reasonable plans for simple coverage. Depending on your age and health you could get it for less than 250 a month.

[idlewords]

Same goes for Blue Cross/Blue Shield (though I like Kaiser a whole lot). All these places have websites with various plan options. If you devote an afternoon to nerding out about the technicalities, you'll find a decent plan.

The important thing is to have some kind of catastrophic coverage.

If you don't go the Kaiser route, I would recommend One Medical as a nerd-friendly place to get health care in the Bay Area. You can do most stuff via website and they take a variety of insurers. (https://www.onemedical.com/sf/)

[subrat_rout]

If you are located in California and do not have any income then contact your County Office. You may be eligible for Medicare California which provides coverage without charging any premium. (Not a professional advice).

[bestnoodles]

thanks for the Comment guys. I'm concerned because I'm reasonably active and do get minor injuries sometimes at BJJ, which is my main outlet for exercise.

I'm 24, male, living in the bay area. Any rough estimates on how much COBRA would cost?

[brogrammer90]

If you're young and fit just forgo it. It's very unlikely a basement dwelling neck beard would get hurt writing javascript and refreshing the browser a million times.