Going off COBRA on to ObamaCare

[streamjp]

Somewhat related question - I on Cobra since 1/1/18, my previous employer covered premiums the first 6 months through 6/30 and I am would have to cover Cobra premiums from that point on. I have since found new employment, I declined their medical coverage since I am currently covered with paid Cobra.

Will I be able to stop Cobra on 6/30 and enroll in an employer plan at that time?

[GTFan]

That's something you'd have to ask your HR dept. about. I think the answer you'll get is that you'll have to wait until open enrollment in the fall since you already declined coverage.

[GTFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational There are many who didn't cancel COBRA, but didn't pay either. I think the law allows 45 or 60 days. Concurrently you get into an ACA plan. That way, if something bad happened, you'd quickly pay for COBRA and be covered. But the expected situation would be to not utilize any COBRA for the time it takes for the ACA policy to kick in.

Yup, that's what I did to get a couple 'free' months when I retired at end of 2014, then I started an ACA plan on March 1. But I also had a signed COBRA election letter in my wife's hands that she could mail if anything happened to me in that time. You have 60 days to accept/decline COBRA after end of employment and then another 45 to pay the first premium, so theoretically you can get 3 months for 'free' (you elect coverage but then don't pay, IIRC there's no penalty for that). Coverage is retroactive to the day you left work if you elect during the 60 day period.

https://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Programs-a...cobra_qna.html

At that time you could only go a couple of months without coverage to avoid the mandate penalty, but that's not an issue now. Saved me about $1500 in premiums.

[Cayman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oma_here LXEX55 you mention that you are 63, but how old is your wife the two-time cancer survivor ( congrats for that)? If she is younger than you, how certain are you that the ACA wiil be available past next year? This is not meant as a political statement although politics plays a role in it: the pre-existing condition rule may be out the window in some states. Research the status of the ACA in the state you intend to move to before moving anywhere.

We're planning on shifting sands when it comes to health insurance. I don't see any political statement/judgement in your message, you're calling it what it is. Be informed, plan based on what you know today and have your checkbook ready.

[24601NoMore]

Wow - timely thread. DW and I are both thinking of RE this summer, and using COBRA to get us through the end of 2019 (basically the full 18 months that I believe COBRA supports). That way, I don't have to worry about the ACA subsidy cliff in terms of AGI for 2019 and can put all my company stock cap gains into that tax year without falling off the ACA cliff at 4X FPL + $.01.

Weird that I didn't think of this strategy earlier on as I will probably have some pretty decent cap gains from company RSUs and was wondering when in the heck I was going to recognize them - didn't want to do it this year as our AGI will already be too high and are gonna get hit with the extra ACA "investment" tax as it is already..if I can go into a year like 2019 and stay < roughly $101K AGI, will have ZERO LT cap gains (saving me 15%) and zero "investment" tax on Fed - for a total savings of 18.8%.

Thank you, COBRA!

[joeea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetireSoon Thank you, COBRA!

Seems like a reasonable strategy.

Have you priced the cost to you of the COBRA option and compared it to an equivalent health exchange plan? It's probably worth checking.
Also, make sure everyone who needs to be covered is on your plan before you leave employment. You can't add them to COBRA afterwards.

[SheitlQueen]

Moving may qualify you for special enrollment. I would check with ACA to make sure though.

Quote:

Life changes that can qualify you for a Special Enrollment Period Changes in household You may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period if you or anyone in your household in the past 60 days: Changes in residence. Household moves that qualify you for a Special Enrollment Period: Moving to a new home in a new ZIP code or county

[24601NoMore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeea Seems like a reasonable strategy. Have you priced the cost to you of the COBRA option and compared it to an equivalent health exchange plan? It's probably worth checking. Also, make sure everyone who needs to be covered is on your plan before you leave employment. You can't add them to COBRA afterwards.

Yep..actually looked into COBRA rates for both me and DW. She may RE before me, and we're both on separate plans.

Turns out the "employee only" COBRA cost is pretty reasonable for both of us ($5-600/mo ea), so we'll probably go MegaCorp plan to COBRA individually, vs going to one or the other company's plans then to COBRA.

The total cost is roughly the same - maybe a little bit lower - than an exchange plan, but the coverage is LIGHT YEARS better (as in, no $6,500 PER PERSON!) deductibles to satisfy.

Having MegaCorp COBRA'd coverage for 18 months will also allow me to do all those tests I've been putting off cuz I've been "too busy" working..if I did those on ACA, I'd probably have to fork over roughly $6,500 before the plan pays penny one..

[karen1972]

We tried to quit our Cobra and were told we would not qualify for ACA credits until Cobra expired since enrollment period doesn't align with Cobra (ie our plan ran July to July) so when open enrollment came around we HAD insurance. We could get an ACA plan, but NO credits. We answered all the questions and even called and got the same answer.

However moving states is usually a qualifying event

[joeea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetireSoon Yep..actually looked into COBRA rates for both me and DW. She may RE before me, and we're both on separate plans. Turns out the "employee only" COBRA cost is pretty reasonable for both of us ($5-600/mo ea), so we'll probably go MegaCorp plan to COBRA individually, vs going to one or the other company's plans then to COBRA.

It's surprising that two individual plans together cost less than one "employee+spouse" plan. Perhaps your companies only offer "family" plans that are prohibitively expensive?