After Cobra premiums

[Hangingitup]

My wife has just gotten over a years worth of treatment for breast cancer (she is currently cancer free). We are finally starting to think about earlier plans for ER again. If ER is June 2013, the plan is to use Cobra for 18 mos then, hopefully Obamacare gaurantees coverage for pre-existing conditions. From Jan 2014 to Jan 2022 when medicare kicks in, I am wondering what to budget for HI premiums. Turns out my current group carrier plans to NOT offer private insurance in California starting in Mar2013, and every other carrier requires detailed information that I don't want to give out at this time.

Both my wife and I are 55 (56 at ER). I think we are in reasonable shape for ER financially assuming "reasonable" HI premiums. My current carrier gave me a quote for about $900/mo for both of us and the same coverage during the Cobra years but refused to even guess for beyond that. But private insurance after CObra is scary to me. If HI is $3000/mo, I would think twice about ER.

Is anyone out there with a similar situation? Venture to guess at a good number for HI premiums, given our medical situatoin?

Any info is greatly appreciated!!

 

[pb4uski]

Try these:

National Health Reform Calculator
Health Reform Subsidy Calculator - Kaiser Health Reform

I think they will each show you estimated premiums as well as health insurance subsidies IF Obamacare remains in place.

 

[meierlde]

My wife has just gotten over a years worth of treatment for breast cancer (she is currently cancer free). We are finally starting to think about earlier plans for ER again. If ER is June 2013, the plan is to use Cobra for 18 mos then, hopefully Obamacare gaurantees coverage for pre-existing conditions. From Jan 2014 to Jan 2022 when medicare kicks in, I am wondering what to budget for HI premiums. Turns out my current group carrier plans to NOT offer private insurance in California starting in Mar2013, and every other carrier requires detailed information that I don't want to give out at this time.

Both my wife and I are 55 (56 at ER). I think we are in reasonable shape for ER financially assuming "reasonable" HI premiums. My current carrier gave me a quote for about $900/mo for both of us and the same coverage during the Cobra years but refused to even guess for beyond that. But private insurance after CObra is scary to me. If HI is $3000/mo, I would think twice about ER.

Is anyone out there with a similar situation? Venture to guess at a good number for HI premiums, given our medical situatoin?

Any info is greatly appreciated!!

I would suggest waiting till Nov 7 and then re-think the decision. [Political Language Mod Edited]

 

[pb4uski]

I smell BACON!!!

 

[Disappointed]

Yes, I am in a similar situation, I think there is an insurance agent that specializes in CA health HI.
PM me for name and contact info.
Mp

 

[rbmrtn]

Every state is different. I would imagine that being a cancer survivor is automatic disqualification. So you wouldn't be able to buy insurance at all. If you take COBRA and use it up you then qualify for HIPAA which may a state high risk pool or some other plan for HIPAA. See an agent in your state to get specifics.

If obama care stands you may have other options.

 

[Hangingitup]

Try these:

National Health Reform Calculator
Health Reform Subsidy Calculator - Kaiser Health Reform

I think they will each show you estimated premiums as well as health insurance subsidies IF Obamacare remains in place.

Thanks, much appreciated pb4uski!

 

[Hangingitup]

Yes, I am in a similar situation, I think there is an insurance agent that specializes in CA health HI.
PM me for name and contact info.
Mp

Thanks disappointed! I guess I can't pm you until I am a "trusted member" but I appreciate the offer.

 

[Hangingitup]

Every state is different. I would imagine that being a cancer survivor is automatic disqualification. So you wouldn't be able to buy insurance at all. If you take COBRA and use it up you then qualify for HIPAA which may a state high risk pool or some other plan for HIPAA. See an agent in your state to get specifics.

If obama care stands you may have other options.

Thanks for the comments rbmrtn, in california, there is a program called PCIP, pre existing insurance program. It slows one to get insurance w pre existing conditions if one can prove they been rejected by other carriers and been wo insurance for 6 mos. Problem is that the program stops in Jan 2014 when Obama care is supposed to take effect.

 

[Hangingitup]

Thanks Disappointed, Not sure if i sent my reply properly, so in case I didn't, I guess I cannot send a pm until I am a "trusted member", thanks for the offer.

 

[MichaelB]

Thanks for the comments rbmrtn, in california, there is a program called PCIP, pre existing insurance program. It slows one to get insurance w pre existing conditions if one can prove they been rejected by other carriers and been wo insurance for 6 mos. Problem is that the program stops in Jan 2014 when Obama care is supposed to take effect.

Hangitup, PCIP stops because it will be replaced by the state insurance exchange, where you are assured access to at least three plans and there is no exclusion due to preexisting conditions. The KFF link pb4uski provided will help you estimate the costs for those plans.

 

[teejayevans]

Every state is different. I would imagine that being a cancer survivor is automatic disqualification. So you wouldn't be able to buy insurance at all. If you take COBRA and use it up you then qualify for HIPAA which may a state high risk pool or some other plan for HIPAA. See an agent in your state to get specifics.

If obama care stands you may have other options.

Assuming you go the HIPAA route, I would use 3X the standard policy rate as a estimate
TJ

 

[rbmrtn]

Thanks for the comments rbmrtn, in california, there is a program called PCIP, pre existing insurance program. It slows one to get insurance w pre existing conditions if one can prove they been rejected by other carriers and been wo insurance for 6 mos. Problem is that the program stops in Jan 2014 when Obama care is supposed to take effect.

One advantage to using COBRA/HIPAA is you can go straight into the risk pool plan without going uncovered or proving denial.

 

[rbmrtn]

Assuming you go the HIPAA route, I would use 3X the standard policy rate as a estimate
TJ

The cost may vary by state as well. When I looked at my state risk pool it was cheaper than what employer cost was paying for insurance, and thus cheaper than the COBRA coverage. It is not a "cadillac" plan by any means but it is available.

 

[Hangingitup]

The cost may vary by state as well. When I looked at my state risk pool it was cheaper than what employer cost was paying for insurance, and thus cheaper than the COBRA coverage. It is not a "cadillac" plan by any means but it is available.

I have not investigated the HIPAA route but will, excellent suggestions and thanks to you and all on this thread!

 

[Parallel]

You can check out CA HIPAA plans and rates at
HIPAA and Conversion Benefit Summaries, Rates and Health Plan Websites

 

[Hangingitup]

Yes, I am in a similar situation, I think there is an insurance agent that specializes in CA health HI.
PM me for name and contact info.
Mp

Got your PM, thanks for the info!

 

[dgoldenz]

I'd expect $800-1000/mo for a couple at your age under guaranteed-issue scenarios. Could be less if you qualify for a subsidy, which is not far fetched if you are retired.

 

[Disappointed]

I'd expect $800-1000/mo for a couple at your age under guaranteed-issue scenarios. Could be less if you qualify for a subsidy, which is not far fetched if you are retired.

While I do not know the detail of the policy you mentioned, that seems to be reasonable for California. My PPO policy that covers my wife and me is a lot more expensive than that. I will be dealing with this in the next eight months.

 

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

This may not be the right place to post, but I am late to the Obamacare policys - so when I went in and did the two calculators, it comes out that we will be on Medicaid! I will be ER probably in January at 58 and plan to live off savings... and have minimal dividends as retirement funds are tax shielded 401k, Roth and flat out cash. So first few years will be drawing down cash, then minimal distributions from 401k. So is that right? That no matter how much I have in assets, we will be on Medicaid as we will have no earned income?? How can that be? Never even considered it and have budgeted $15,000 a year for HI. Just seems wrong, wrong, wrong

 

[obgyn65]

I have to agree with this statement.

I would suggest waiting till Nov 7 and then re-think the decision. [Political Language Mod Edited]

 

[teejayevans]

This may not be the right place to post, but I am late to the Obamacare policys - so when I went in and did the two calculators, it comes out that we will be on Medicaid! I will be ER probably in January at 58 and plan to live off savings... and have minimal dividends as retirement funds are tax shielded 401k, Roth and flat out cash. So first few years will be drawing down cash, then minimal distributions from 401k. So is that right? That no matter how much I have in assets, we will be on Medicaid as we will have no earned income?? How can that be? Never even considered it and have budgeted $15,000 a year for HI. Just seems wrong, wrong, wrong

If you want to increase your income do some Roth conversions to get to the 15000 level.
TJ

 

[Disappointed]

Man, this is making me nervous, first I do have preexisting condition that will most likely prevent me from being able to obtain i surance on my own.

My company is providing coverage for me and my wife at the cost of $2,740/mo. I think the reason for such high cost is because our policy is with Kaiser, since our policy is a PPO type, Kaiser charges us so much more, the HMO part is very reasonable, about $400/mo per couple.

Since my company is being sold next year I will be facing a situation of not knowing if Cobra is going to be available or not, and at what cost. Don't know if downgrading to HMO is an option or not, though I really don't want to right now as I have just recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer. I want to be able to see specialists outside of Kaiser without worrying about being denied by Kaiser.

 

[M Paquette]

There are a couple of points that you may want to check on that are specific to California coverage and COBRA.

The PPACA, if in force, will get you guaranteed coverage after COBRA as currently written. It is worth considering what happens should that guarantee be removed, for planning purposes.

COBRA coverage lasts 18 months in California, and then you MAY be able to switch to Cal-COBRA after 18 months for a total of 36 months. The switch requires that you be on an actual in-state insurance plan, including HMO plans like Kaiser. Most of my last employers plans, although labeled as United Healthcare, were actually self-insured by the company and administered by the insurer. These self-insured plans were not eligible for the Cal-COBRA extension.

This led me to switch to the HMO plan, so I could make use of Cal-COBRA if needed. It turns out that I did need it, to get past underwriting that wouldn't issue a policy for folks who had undergone some medical procedures within a certain period of the application. An extra year on Cal-COBRA got us to the point where we could buy insurance. Without this, on exhausting Cal-COBRA I would have been eligible for a conversion policy, which would have been expensive, but not as much as the state high risk pool.

I wound up drawing out a decision tree for health care coverage before retiring, to determine which paths available to me gave me the best change at having some coverage for the longest period of time.

 

[Disappointed]

Thanks M, I will need to do some more digging. Didn't pay much attention to HI until this year. Now I am hoping for Obama to win the election. I really was hoping to retire when the company is sold.