Laid off workers struggling to get health insurance through the ACA exchange
By now, you’re probably pretty familiar with the soaring unemployment figures. If nothing else, you’ve at least gotten blindsided by hearing statistics thrown around in news coverage. Most of the country’s economy was shut down in late March, leaving millions and millions of Americans unemployed. While the CARES Act was a lifesaver for workers who had recently lost their jobs, many were left without health insurance coverage that had been a part of their employment benefits package. The Affordable Care Act provides for a special 60-day window — giving laid off workers 2 months to enroll in a plan mid-year using the loss of job status as a qualifying event. Simple math says that most of the country is quickly approaching the end of that 60-day time frame, if they aren’t already there. So, what can you do if you’ve lost your health insurance coverage due to COVID-19 and it’s collateral damage??
check out the website Health Sherpa. This is a great site that will allow you to quickly and easily check coverage options, pricing, and subsidies in your area.
HealthCare.gov. I’ll give you a fair warning…..they’re gonna ask for tons of information before you can go anywhere on this site (which is why you start at Health Sherpa first), but this is how you can enroll in a plan. You may very well qualify for a nice subsidy, or even Medicaid as well.
Talk to an insurance broker or agent. That’s me! Group insurance rates are typically 40-50% lower than individual, and there are plenty of creative strategies to qualify for group rates, even if you’re a married couple, or on a plan by yourself.
Talk with your former employer. Are they expecting to hire you back? With any luck, your layoff will be temporary. If that’s the case, it’s very possible your loss of coverage will take care of itself once you’re back to work like normal.
Consider a short term policy. Part of the reason that health insurance is so expensive is that ACA compliant plans are required to be extremely comprehensive. While having very robust health insurance coverage sounds great, many people’s needs aren’t quite as deep or wide. A short term policy can strip out parts that you may not use, like prescription drug coverage. Take that component out and the cost goes down.
Times are certainly tough for Americans right now, but there is hope. Best of luck!