Completed COBRA recently-VLM
Posted By: PsychicMT on 2007-08-13
In Reply to: Anyone been on COBRA - siren
The following speaks of my personal experience with Cobra - Insurance premiums out-of-pocket for any reason are an expensive undertaking (they are also tax deductible if you meet deduction requirements). I was appreciative of having the option of Cobra because of my personal circumstances. If you are considering going without health insurance for any amount of time, I would suggest that you may be gambling with more than your health. One emergency surgery or health crisis not covered can cost you everything - I know because it happened to me. Hospitals and physicians are bound by no debt code - they will sue you and take your home, business, car, pots, pans and the shirt off your back if they can redeem a penny for it. They are not required to accept a payment plan. My hospital told me that an indefinite payment offered by me to start of $100 every 2 weeks to start was not worth their time and effort. A bit of trivia - I was employed by this same hospital for 10+ years.
COBRA guidelines are set by the Fed - all rules must be followed to the letter by all parties. My premium was 120% of what my original premium while employed with the company was. I went the entire 18 months during which my premium was raised once - without warning - if you fail to pay the premium exact to the penny, by the exact postmarked indicated date, you are terminated from the plan. I was nearly terminated with the premium increase which arrived in a separate envelope along with the premium notice. There are no exceptions to the rules governing Cobra - this works sometimes in your favor and sometimes in the ex-employer's favor. After the first premium increase, I called 1 time each month on the same day and asked if there was a premium increase - the point being don't take anything at face value when dealing with this issue.
These guidelines also direct what happens when your Cobra involvement ends or if you terminate it before the 18 months are finished - there are also exclusions which may make the amount of Cobra coverage available longer than 18 months. The day your Cobra ends, you have a set number of days to get involved with another plan - if you choose Cobra, make sure someone explains what happens when the plan ends, and if you are told "nothing" or "you are on your own," ask someone else who knows that they are talking about.
If you choose Cobra, you need to speak to whomever administers the plan - some companies hire a third party, others do not. Make sure you get all the facts.
There are obvious negatives but one thing is an absolute positive, if you meet all the guidelines each month and pay the correct premium on time, you will have continuation of your health coverage and time to plan for the future. My research led me to understand that I might find a cheaper interim plan, but I might just as easily lose that plan for any number of reasons, leaving me high and dry. I personally could not risk this. I saw an earlier comment about not letting coverage lapse and preexisting conditions - If there is a plan anywhere which does not have a preexisting clause of some type for every new enrollee, I would be very surprised. I talked to about 14 carriers over 6 months. Not having a lapse in coverage or not exceeding the cushion of days provided by Cobra between policies is most beneficial, I feel, when you are applying for new coverage on your own - Companies are much more receptive to someone who has existing coverage as opposed to someone without, for obvious reasons. However, this varies from ins co to ins so and you need to do your homework.
One last thing, I cannot speak for every state, but I called our State Insurance Commish - wonderful lady whose staff went way out of the way to make sure I was fully clear on what my Cobra rights were. These people were totally on my side! I highly recommend this phone call to anyone trying to get health insurance. The state is not allowed to recommend an insurance co; however, they do have ratings and data that you may find very helpful in choosing coverage.
I spent many, many hours learning about and personally experiencing this process - I hope you find something helpful here. Whatever happens, I wish you the best of luck!
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Shop around before getting cobra. If you are leaving a job, you can get cobra. I am in the process
Cobra is almost $600 for you and children, I found a month to month coverage by shopping on internet, covers 2 visits a year (I only need it 3 months) and is less than $300. Less expensive coverage than cobra is out there
No, the employer doesn't pay COBRA, you pay COBRA directly.
:(
Thank you! Because she just completed...
an LPN course and is considering going on to finish for RN. If she was a PA she would be way beyond that point and totally unnecessary!! Now MAYBE he will finally hush about it! LOL 
Completed it. Thanks!!
Good luck  .
I just completed my first week of DQS and WOW (sm)
Thank goodness I had one week of Cottage to keep my line count a little above bankruptcy level. One day I typed ten reports like we used to do in batches and these were approximately the same type of reports I normally did. Later next day, checked line count and what would normally have been from 500-800 lines was 372. I was flabbergasted and it took me almost 3 hours to do this.
Another problem I have is the lack of feedback. I was trained, sent in a couple of sample documents and that was it. Even those where I requested QC check over I got no feedback on. I tried to call QA and was given voice mail and told someone would return my call in 24 hours. Not much help when you are in the middle of something.
I better quit complaining and see if I can eke out a few lines this morning.
I just completed my shift for the day and
I had an easy doc for most of my shift today and she does mammograms and so it is copy and paste and change the necessary material. I worked on Meditech once, and found it very cumbersome. My platform now is word based and I love it. I get an accurate line count daily.
How many MTs have a completed Bachelor's or higher currently?
nm
I promise I will once the survey is completed....sm
I don't want to influence the results in any way so the information will be unbiased and more meaningful.
Jay
Well, let's see 15 years ago I completed a transcription...SM
program. Not an "online" program. I actually went to a college and attended classes which include A&P I and II, Medical Terminology Greek and Latin, and Pharmacology in addition to a number of computer courses. That's in addition to my Bachelor's degree in English.
Then, of course, there is my 13 years experience as an MT before I decided to move into QA.
you will be editing a completed ASR report vs typing
x
I've completed the survey & I hope all
x
So you enjoyed the candy? LOL! My daughter completed college at FIU and
aa
Have my own ftp site for receiving wave files...return completed
reports to the doctor the same way... secure, safe, easy. I purchase the space from startlogic for $90 a year. Hope this helps!
if you purchase bytescribe/docshuttle, you can actually upload the completed work back on there. nm
;
I have a call in system and also use tapes. We send completed reports via encrypted email.
I use MPCount, which is a free line counting program that you can download and it works great.
Anyone been on COBRA
I am trying to figure out how expensive COBRA is. If anyone has been on COBRA, would you give me an idea of what it cost you? I am trying to find an average cost here. My job has been terminated as of 08/31/07, due to outsourcing in-house transcription to a service. I need to make many decisions on a very short timeframe. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
cobra
My husband and I are on cobra right now. For two of us with dental it's costing us $821 per month thru Aetna.
COBRA
Once you have insurance, you should be able to get COBRA. The length of time should no matter.
COBRA
I had to use COBRA for my daughter a few years ago when my husband died. It's my understanding that you have until 45 days after regular insurance terminates to decide to take COBRA. In her case, anything within that 45 days ws covered by the regular insurance. I was also able to take the COBRA on a month by month basis, not have to pay in advance. I suppose plans may be different, but it ws my understanding COBRA has standards under the insurance act. You might have to speak to the plan administrator to find out for sure. Good luck!
COBRA
I do believe you have to pay it through the date you actually sign up, so that would mean you could drop it in February. Here is something to consider - if you cannot afford the COBRA payments and your ER bill is quite substantial, the hospital collections office will sometimes pay the COBRA for you and then bill you for the premiums paid. I used to work in collections and we often did this when we could see we would benefit by doing so. We could sometimes pay $700 in COBRA premiums, but collect $7000; therefore, even if we never collected from the patient on the $700, we still came out ahead.
COBRA
Actually, that's correct. COBRA does not legally apply if there are less than 19 people. I am not sure what state you are in, but in IL they have a state mandate that picks up for smaller companies, but the coverage time isn't as long as COBRA.
COBRA
Have you tried Alli? The reason I ask is because I just started taking it myself. I did contact my doctor's office before taking it though, as I am Wellbutrin and Effexor, as well as Evista, Advair, albuterol, and take Tylenol ES quite often. She said that even with all these meds, it is safe. I have not experienced any adverse reactions to the Alli as far as my other meds go.
However, you need to really read up on the Alli program, including the side effects that some people have experienced.
Maybe it's worth a shot!!
When do I need to sign up for COBRA? sm
I turned in my notice on 6/28 and quit two weeks later. I have received my last paycheck, reimbursement for PTO, a letter saying someone will be calling for an exit survey, and even my shipping labels to return my computer, etc. but have yet to receive any information about COBRA and I want to sign up! It is now almost the end of the month and I'm worried that I have to get my money in by the first of the month. Does anyone know? I don't want to get stuck with a pre-existing condition problem.
Thanks!
That's exactly right. TAKE THE COBRA, even though the $$ is high.
At age 64, I have had to take COBRA, it's $926 a MONTH
I took a job with a medium-sized MTSO last year in September, qualified with 90 days above their set quota to get benefits, my share was about $75 biweekly. Then my work type dried up, they tried to force me to do clinic which I would not do. No one will cover a 64 year old woman because you better believe everybody has something pre-existing by the time they get into their 60's. I have to keep the policy through the COBRA until July next year when I'll be 65 and get Medicare. I never wanted to be 65 so much in my life! I have had to work 7 days a week on production to make enough money to meet my mortgage, regular household bills, and now this $926 COBRA. I'm lucky I found a service that will let me work my fingers to the bone. I've been paying this amount since April, please say a little prayer for me, I'm 5 months into this, I have 10 months more to go. Then I can cut back to 5 days a week, it's going to feel really good when that happens and I can do my errands and cleaning one day a week and have one real "day off" a week. I think my COBRA is so high because it is a really good BC/BS policy, and the actual cost of the coverage is horrific. Whatever you do don't let your coverage lapse. You actually will have almost 2 months to get the first payment to them, but if you are 1 cent short or 1 day late, you are out of luck. P.S. This treatment was the company that brags "you'll be proud to tell your friends about us." Don't ever believe what a recruiter tells you about the work type you'll be doing or the amount of work they have for you to do. Good luck to all the Old-Timers out there, we're all going to need all the luck we can get. Prayers would be even better.
Wise
Another Cobra inquiry
Does anyone know how long you have to be on the insurance to qualify for cobra. I did have a lapse in my prior coverage but have no pre-existing conditions so wasn't worried. Have now had the insurance at my employment about 30 days but am thinking about leaving, does anyone know if I will be eligible for Cobra?
Cobra question
I know this was recently discussed here but for some reason I cannot locate it. I have been at my job a little over 4 months, have had 2 insurance payments taken out of my check. I am really thinking seriously about leaving - does anyone know if I will be eligible for Cobra or do you have to have the insurance for a minimum amount of time. TYIA.
Check out the COBRA
I'm so sorry to hear about your friend losing her job. Please tell her to check out the COBRA rulings on insurance policies. You normally have a 30-day window after termination ...so if she can get her surgeries in before that 30 days is up...the insurance should pay.
Can I do just 1 month of COBRA? sm
I'm wondering if I can sign up for just 1 month of COBRA health insurance after the fact. I'm nearing my COBRA election cut off. My last day of regular insurance was 10/31. I would just like to pay for COBRA for the month of November, but the paperwork says you must pay all months up to the day of election. I had an ER visit in November, which is why I only want to pay November, but if I made the COBRA election today, I'd have to make 3 months of payments. Has anyone ever done this? I thought maybe I could just send in a payment for the 1 month with a note that I didn't want it after that. TIA. I know I should probably ask the plan administrator, but I'm embarassed.
COBRA QUESTION
I have been covered by COBRA since September 2007 with dental coverage. I just received my new card today and I do not have dental, and my last dental appointment and treatment are not being paid. Can they do this? Drop coverage that I already have. To top it off they are charging me $20.00 more a month.
My husband is covered under AARP; however, I cannot get on his insurance even though I will be 50 in one month due to being overweight. They say I have to lose at least 70 pounds.
Does anyone know of an insurance company that would insure me for less than what I am paying COBRA?
Thanks for your response. If I opt out of the cobra coverage,
does my current coverage stop immediately (last employment day), at the end of the current pay period, or at the end of the final pay period? Thanks!
Cobra takes precedence
Divorce is considered a "qualifying event" and would entitle you to 18 months (or 36 months in certain cases) of coverage through COBRA where you would pay the premium. You can make an inquiry to the human resources department at his employer if there are children involved and the rate is the same for him to cover himself, the kids and you, and in that event, you would continue to have coverage without invoking COBRA. The best thing is to read the policy and direct any questions to HR.
good luck
COBRA is not a specific insurance sm
policy. It is simply a continuation of what you already had with your employer, except you pay all the costs. That is what you need to find out, how much the full coverage will cost you without an employer contribution.
COBRA is simply an extension of your sm
prior insurance, and you pick up whatever the company was paying, and pay all costs. COBRA extends you current insurance when you lose your job, but YOU pay all of the charges, same insurance, though.
Again, COBRA is not insurance, just an extension of sm
any insurance you currently have. So while COBRA may be cheaper that whatever, it is exactly what you have had with an employer, just YOU have to pay for it.
I cannot understand why people think COBRA is a specific insurance policy. IT IS NOT. It is a government policy that allows you to still maintain you current insurance, with you paying for it, for a certain amount of time.
Again, call Cobra. Google for #. You are not the
x
The majority of them will be cheaper than Cobra.
Go through your local yellow pages and look for insurance companies who advertise health insurance and start calling. Call several so you can compare rates. Your weight issues are going to make your premium higher than it would if you were a normal weight.
PS --COBRA IS A BANDAID NOTHIING more
When, OH when are you baby whiners gonna grow up!!! AARP is a bandaid, COBRA is a bandaid and when the whole HIPPA thing came into play the docs had a FIT!!!
Now, younguns you are seeing as "PATIENTS" what is going on -- have HUBBY WORK OR GET WELFARE
BTW -- workin ONE job and grossed 50K
You can get it by COBRA, that is what they told me, couldn't afford it. nm
nm
on COBRA at YOUR expense..that wasn't the question.
nm
Yet another COBRA/future insurance question
I'm reading a new plan that my company is probably going to switch to. I just hired on and was going to sign up for COBRA so I wouldn't have a lapse in coverage for my pre-existing conditions etc. Here is what this new plan says "This exclusion period may be reduced by the number of days of your prior creditable coverage. The plan is not required to take into account any days of creditable coverage that precede a break in coverage of 63 days or more."
So, can you please interpret what this is telling me? If I get insurance from my new company prior to 63 days after the end of my previous insurance are my pre-existing conditions covered? I was on insurance from the previous company for close to two years.
Thanks!!!
I dont think you have a set time to have had the insurance before your eligible for COBRA
My advice is to apply right now with your local Blue Cross or Blue Shield and get one of those major medical plans ($5000+ deductible) to kick in the second to quit and your other insurance ends. Keep it until you get new insurance with an employer and you wont have a gap in coverage, thus avoid pre-existing waiting periods etc..Getting one of those cheap plans is a A LOT cheaper than COBRA..COBRA's whole thing is trying to discourage you from keeping it..It worked for me. They wanted like $600 a month for me to go on it. No way.. I went to a BC plan and paid $100 a month for a high deductible plan. It's just my opinion, others may feel differently.
jude is right. Cobra may not be cheap, but it's cheaper than the surgery.
.
Good point. I've never done the Cobra because it was outrageous. I also did what you call a "b
overlapsed. I liked a cheap individual policy up ($7500 deducticle) before I lost my coverage..and kept the cheap policy until the new kicked in..
Work for 1 hour, then count your lines of the completed work - sm
either check you total characters in word (with spaces) then total them all up and divide by 65, and you get your total lines per hour. 10,000/65 is 153 lines. Or if you have a line counting program us that to figure you count, either way will work quite well. Maybe do it a few times and then figure an average over 3 hours or something like that, it will vary with the ease/difficulty of the work you are doing.
Compared the price offered by Cobra with a local BC or Regence Blue Shield plan. Chances are..
If you have a lot of medical issues your preminum wont be pretty but if it's temporary go with an extremely high deductible if you can. I have one that is $7500 deductible but has a $25 office visit copay and prescription coverage so it helps me since I just go to the doctor. Now, if you needed surgery or something that would be different.
NO... Just recently.....
my sister came home to a real disaster. She left for work at the beginning of a thunderstorm and came home to find everything blown out in her house and scorched burnt wallpaper in places on the walls. Apparently the lightening hit the Invisible Fence wire around the perimeter of her property, traveled into the garage where the power box for the fence was, and breached her circuit box and traveled up into the sockets in the house. She lost TVs, her computer, all sorts of items which were destroyed. I'd unplug and wait it out.
i just recently became SE
and all i can tell you is that when i talked with my accountant about what to do with the 401k that i already have, knowing my situation, she gave no indication of there being a problem maintaining this as an SE.
I recently got one because I could not
adjust to the earphones my company sent. I got mine from the Dictation Store and they were $9, but shipping is about $8. I just got standard shipping and I think it took 2 days to get it, though I'm on the same coast.
I had one of those recently.
Foot pedals wouldn't work (I tried several). Keyboard keys (F1, etc.) wouldn't work. I ended up using the mouse on media player to stop, start, and back up the dictations. Obviously it takes much longer to transcribe anything that way because it's a pain in the neck to use the mouse to operate the player, and you're much more prone to make mistakes because of the clumsiness and hassle involved.
The test I took was very easy (radiology). They graded it the same as if I had had full use of a foot pedal and no technical difficulties. There were a few simple errors that were obviously the result of not being able to quickly back up and re-listen to things. They also counted off for minor stylistic "errors" even though they did not make it known anywhere that they required the use of a specific set of style guidelines on the test (presumably the BOS). I now regret taking that test at all under those ridiculous circumstances.
In the end I concluded that they either didn't know how to administer a test or it was all designed to be an ambush to stifle the MTs they had decided they didn't like and weren't about to sign a contract with. Or both. In any case, I would never choose to work with a place that incompetent or that nasty anyway.
I have done several recently and
every single one of them required you to type it into Word 2003 and email it in so that they can read it.
Maybe you were testing with bigger companies than I was, though and they have some other way to test.
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