This COBRA health benefit is meant to provide for the medical needs of poor people who cannot meet the age requirements for Medicare. However, this reminds them of times wherein they feel that they are being tagged of using it like a food stamp.

COBRA’s primarily contains provisions that former employees, retirees along with their spouses and children are allowed to have temporary continuation of their health insurance at group rates. However, it cannot be denied that a group health insurance in COBRA is a lot more expensive than the one which covers those who are still employed. This is because employers are required to pay a part of the premiums of their employees.

COBRA provides medical assistance for their beneficiaries which includes; hospital care (inpatient or outpatient), physician care, surgical and other major medical benefits, also prescription drugs and other medical care such as those of dental and optical clinics. Receiving all these benefits is a definite relief for a lot of families. Yet, it seemed to have deprived these people of their chance to live comfortably.

We’ve known a harmoniously living couple; wherein the husband is approaching his 70’s and his wife about 7 years younger. The husband lost his job as a shelf stocker for quite some time ago and receives a couple of thousand dollars from his Social Security check which is more or less okay. His wife though was working as a bookstore supervisor until recently, she got permanently laid off because the bookstore chain had to downsize. She lost her paycheck; she would never have been able to afford her expensive medication for blood pressure and back pain if she wasn’t able to apply for COBRA medical insurance, buying it from the bookstore for a couple of hundred dollars every month; and she was grateful. But not anymore, President Obama passed a business stimulus package back in the beginning of the year, and that allows the unemployed and the laid-off to claim deeply subsidized COBRA medical insurance benefits only for nine months. The old lady will now then have to surrender half of her paychecks by March, just to buy the coverage which in turn leaves her with about $1000 from her unemployment benefits. Now, the couple is puzzled as to where they’d be going to live after consuming all that remains from their benefits.

Why does the COBRA plan insist on sending people to work in this economic climate; how many job opportunities are out there for old people that provide them health benefits over their wages? Does the government just want people to work themselves to death when they are sick? What is more, anyone who gets laid off today can’t even claim the nine months that my friends the old couple got, that is how the new COBRA is framed. Just do the math: most people get unemployment benefits of no more than $1000; and the average COBRA payment lies around $800.

The government does notice that there is a problem here, and they are trying to reform the COBRA medical insurance act. Yet it consumes time, try to put yourself in the elderly couple’s shoes, what do you think would you do if in any case your benefits are running out fast? People need short term medical insurance coverage.

First and foremost, COBRA medical insurance relentlessly requires its members for contributions. When the subsidized rate ends, we won’t really be getting any special notice, other than the heftier bill. You just have to find a way to pay it for now. If you stop paying the bill, they will start your count for being with no medical insurance. You are allotted a 63-day count before permanently losing your paid COBRA insurance. If you give in all of your remaining money just in time, your insurance is safe. If in any case it takes any longer than the duration itself, your payment is then charged as a new account, which means you need to go through it all over again, unimaginable premium pays. Why not let group health insurance coverage to just continue?

When the law passes and makes COBRA medical insurance kinder to people, they’ll pay you back for whatever you spent. Keeping your COBRA administrator updated as to when you will be given the refund will ensure that a notification definitely arrive at your doorstep. Let’s just hope that this awareness would reign over Washington. We would all want the best health benefits we could have.


About the author

Sej Tzard is a dedicated online provider of various products and services. She has been involved with many promotion and advertising sites to cater the needs of other businessman of online presence. She is also when it comes to group health insurance.