Health Insurance After a Layoff

With more and more people out of work these days, the question repeatedly arises…what to do about one’s health insurance policy? In this installment of the Weekly Health Insurance News Roundup, we will look at articles that discuss what could happen to your health insurance after losing a job, and what to do about it. Our first article comes to us from The New York Times and is entitled, “When a Job Disappears, So Does the Health Care.”

In this article, author Robert Pear takes looks at personal examples of what happens to people once they lose their coverage, whether they’re pregnant, need dental work and so on. The article discusses how most people in this country have insurance through their workplace, but when people are laid off or their business closes, that insurance abruptly ends, adding to the already swelling numbers of uninsured. The article mentioned that the numbers of people on unemployment or using food stamps are at record highs, and quotes Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio as saying, “This shows why — no matter how bad the condition of the economy — we can’t delay pursuing comprehensive health care.”

The article takes a look at the case of workers from a cookie plant in Ohio that abruptly closed in October, and this company also failed to pay for its employee’s health insurance benefits for its final month. This has put not only the former company, but its former workers, in dire straits. People are not getting the care they need, not taking their medicine as often to save money, and the dozens of other little things the uninsured do to survive.

The article goes onto discuss how some people use COBRA (the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) to keep some health insurance, but for these factory workers, COBRA isn’t an option. These losses are also taking its affect on hospitals as well. Hopefully president-elect Obama’s claim to want to provide universal and comprehensive health insurance comes through, because people like this certainly could use all the help they could get.

The next article isn’t about specifically health insurance, per-say, but is relevant to our topic today. CBS news has an article entitled, “Surviving A Layoff,” in which they give tips on how to survive getting laid off from your job. These tips include getting a letter of recommendation from your former employer, acquiring unemployment and so on. On the matter of health insurance, the article recommends getting a COBRA or individual health care plan in order to keep your health insurance coverage active. Overall, it’s a short, yet fairly helpful article.

Our final article comes from Forbes and is entitled, “Factors to consider when buying a health insurance.” I’m including this because finding health insurance is something one should do for themselves or their family once they’re laid off. According to the article, several factors should be taken into account when searching for your own health insurance coverage. These factors include your own needs (prescription drugs, out of network doctors, etc), out of pocket costs, how high the co-payments are, the quality of care and so on. It’s a fairly useful article that should help those searching for health care stay focused on their needs.

Losing a job is never a good thing. It throws one’s life into complete turmoil in many ways. Thankfully, if one is prepared, one can keep a decent quality of life while they embark on their new task…finding a new full-time job. I hope you have found this installment of the roundup interesting and informative, and until next time, stay healthy and happy.

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