COBRA insurance is the standard temporary insurance available to you after you quit or leave your current job. Most people assume it’s the only temporary insurance policy available so they just select it after their companies insurance policy expires (typically at the end of the month you quit).
I’ve used COBRA in the past and never needed to file a claim. Since I recently left my job and need a temporary 3-6 month insurance policy, I’ve began looking for a lower price alternative. COBRA quoted me $384 a month as a low risk single male! That was motivation enough to begin my search.
I was at Barnes and Noble last night and came across an entire book written about low cost insurance plans. I honestly don’t know how they could fill an entire book with this and preferred just the Cliff Notes version which didn’t exist. After skimming through the chapters, I found what I was looking for. A gem website called eHealthInsurance.com which is basically an aggregation of short-term (or long-term) personal or small business insurance policies. Bingo!
I checked out the site and filled in a simple form and was instantly quoted 10-20 different rates. For example, Blue Cross came up as a “Best Seller” but had a $2,000 deductible but there were other plans with little to no deductible. Regardless, this quote is over $300 less a MONTH than what COBRA was quoting me. Knowledge is power my friends.
It appears COBRA is finally catching on that it’s plan is way too expensive and other companies online are taking advantage of this. To combat the competition, COBRA has introduced a “COBRA Alternative” which provides you with a custom quote in a similar way. I’d recommend you get quotes for both sites and see which works out best for you and/or your family.
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COBRA is a federal law ( Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 ) and not an insurance agency. COBRA rates depend on a number of factors: 1) Benefit Plan design; 2) Average employee age; and, most importantly, expected claims. COBRA was created primarily to protect SICK terminating employees who therefore might not qualify for there own policies. This is important. Healthy former employees CAN get their own new policies, whereas “the sickies” can’t. And, because COBRA attracts more of the sickies, and has higher claims, they NEED to charge higher premiums.
SECONDLY, if you are a real (self-employed) entrepreneur, I hope you did not buy the short-term policy.
THIRDLY, if and when you talk to any “insurance professional” at eHealthInsurance, ask them if they know what COBRA stands for.