Question:
COBRA, I know this has been asked before, BUT.....

I never read it because i never thought I could lose my job, however, I'm the wonderful world of Telecommunications and you never know whats going to happen....Anyways, I may lose my job here shortly and I believe I wiull fall back onto CoBra....Will Cobra cover my surgery which should be next month????    — Karen W. (posted on September 6, 2002)

September 6, 2002
COBRA is just an extension of your insurance, so you will still have the same insurance, you will just be paying COBRA instead of thru your employer. I had my surgery while under COBRA (and I still am under COBRA) and had no trouble at all. Good luck!
   — Jennifer G.

September 6, 2002
YOUR COBRA WILL PAY THE SAME AS YOUR INSURANCE! THE ONLY DIFFERENCE WILL BE YOU WILL BE PAYING A HIGHER INSURANCE RATE PREMIUM PER MTH! MY FRIEND LOST HER JOB SHE SAID IT WAS ONE THOUSAND A MTH, HER COBRA! IF I WERE U I WOULD CALL NOW AND FIND OUT HOW MUCH YOUR COBRA WILL BE! IF YOUR DUE TO HAVE WLS NEXT MTH, YOU WILL NEED TO KEEP YOUR INSURANCE AND PAY THE COBRA PRICE! AT LEAST FOR A FEW MTHS! CAUSE SELF PAY WOULD BE ALOT MORE MONEY THAN COBRA FOR A FEW MTHS! GET PREPARED TO PAY THE PRICE! SORRY! MAYBE LOOKED UP CORA INSURANCE ON THE NEXT! YOU WILL STILL HAVE THE SAME INSURANCE COMPANY! I THINK U CAN KEEP PAYING FOR COBRA FOR 18 MTHS. ITS THE LAW THEY HAVE TO OFFER IT!
   — CYNDI B.

September 6, 2002
First, let me chastize you for not looking up this answer in the library! That having been said, let me clear up some misconceptions about COBRA. What happens is that you have the opportunity to continue your health insurance benefits AT THE RATE YOUR EMPLOYER WAS PAYING (INCLUDING YOUR EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTION) for a period of 18 months (36 months if you are disabled) after leaving the employ of your employer. Therefore, your coverage is EXACTLY the same as it was before you left the employ of your employer and if they were going to cover it before, they will after COBRA takes effect. Good Luck to you!!
   — merri B.

September 6, 2002
Let me add about the cost of COBRA. In addition to the 100% premium that you will have to pay, most COBRA Administrators will charge an administration fee of 2%, so you'll actually be paying 102% of the premium. By law, they cannot charge more than that 2% Additionally, if it's a self funded plan that you were on, self funded plans MUST use actuarially determined rates that reflect the cost of the benefit across all participants, not based on the cost to the plan for COBRA continuees only.
   — Rosario T.

September 6, 2002
Also, COBRA for disability related terminations only extends for 11 months, making it a total of 29 months, not 36. COBRA continuation is as follows: 18 months for regular termination/reduction in hours, 29 months for disability, 36 months for The death of your spouse (if they were the employee)or if you Divorce or legally separate from your spouse (again, if they are the employee,or if your spouse becomes entitled to Medicare.
   — Rosario T.

September 6, 2002
Hi, it all depends on what plan your employer has. I am divorced spouse of a state employee, and I am covered under COBRA indefinately that is untill I am eligible for insurance through other means such as a job, re-marriage or medicare. The other poster was correct in that you do have to pay an extra 2%. So in fact you will be paying 102% of the premiums. I send my payment to my Ex husbands employer to be covered. It is the same insurance, just through a different door.
   — Patricia C.

September 7, 2002
HI Karen....just curious....are you with Lucent? I was laid off from Lucent in June and am having difficulty with "delays" from PHCS. Just curious, if you are with Lucent, let's try to talk...Renee D [email protected]
   — Renee D.

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