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Comment by HBKXNCUO | Hacker News Reader

>You're going to be between jobs at some point in your life, and you don't want a potential huge bill to wipe you out financially. Even if it is just for a short period, it ought to worry you that you aren't covered.

Anyone who loses health insurance coverage due to losing their job has the option to buy COBRA within 60 days of losing their health insurance. If they do buy COBRA, it is retroactive to the day they lost their health insurance. So you really do not need to be worried about being wiped out (unless the cost of COBRA would wipe you out) as long as you get a different job within 2 months.

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I've been in this situation and bought COBRA. It was a mistake. It's not nearly as good a deal as it sounds like. It's really expensive! It was double what I pay as an individual.

Sure, it probably had some additional benefits that my basic plan doesn't, because my employer got the extra super gold plus plan, but if you're only buying it for a few months to avoid being wiped out in case the worst happens, then you probably don't care about that.

My recommendation is to never buy COBRA, unless there is a specific element of the plan that you need, and you have a short timeline to getting a new full-time job with comparable coverage. Otherwise, it's just hundreds of dollars extra you're spending, for features you don't need, right at the time when money is tightest.

This is good advice IF you have something lined up and you don't have a chronic/preexisting condition. Otherwise you'd want to continue your coverage.

This thread began with the statement that insurance is "to protect you when something unlikely nonetheless occurs", like getting ill.

Obviously, if a person already has some condition, then they're buying health insurance for a very different purpose, and none of this applies to them.

>but if you're only buying it for a few months to avoid being wiped out in case the worst happens, then you probably don't care about that.

Right, as I said though, the coverage is retroactive to the day you lost your health insurance. So if you have a heart attack a month and a half after losing your job, you can buy COBRA after having the heart attack, and you won't have to pay for the heart attack.

That's a good point. The optimal strategy, not knowing the future but assuming the most likely outcome is for nothing terrible to occur, is to buy no insurance for just under 2 months, and then buy COBRA (if something occurred and you need to retroactively cover it), or then buy an individual plan (to have basic coverage going forward).

What if you're unconscious for a long time?

Hopefully your spouse will sign you up.

Not sure who is down voting you or why. Maybe because you (gasp) gave a recommendation on health insurance. Although I do not want to recommend anything to anyone, I will say that I DEEPLY REGRET the COBRA that I paid for and sincerely hope that folks will strongly consider that insurance != health.

I don't understand what you are saying. COBRA is not a different, more expensive type of insurance. It's a law that allows you to extend the insurance plan you received through your employer for 18+ months after your employment is terminated. However, you need to pay the full amount (the premium you paid before, plus what the employer had been contributing on your behalf) plus a 2% fee.

Get a different job or start paying for COBRA insurance.

COBRA coverage is 18-36 months, depending on circumstances. Only long-term unemployment (or having no savings, which is of course a bug deal) prevents health insurance coverage after employment.

The 2-month loophole you describe is the only useful thing about Cobra for most people.

For many people, having no income means they cannot afford the $500+/month it will cost to continue their coverage.

>The 2-month loophole you describe is the only useful thing about Cobra for most people.

Absolutely agreed, but it is peace of mind if you know you're going to be between jobs for 2 months or less.

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