I got approval from BCBS in July. I got fired Aug 18th and my insurance terminates at the end of Aug. I will definitely do Cobra if the approval is going to carry over. Does anyone know if an insurance approval will carry over into Cobra?

Thanks for any info,

Jamie

I would definitely do Cobra so you can keep the approval and insurance coverage. It's expensive to do Cobra but I'm sure it's a lot less than paying for the LB yourself!!

I lost my job in May. I continued my insurance through COBRA and had my surgery done in July. I didnt have any trouble with it. The only trouble is trying to make the payments, COBRA is expensive, but worth it.

My husband was let go due to the company downsizing. We had 3 months of company paid insurance then Cobra and we had a minor problem when they accidentally canceled our insurance and I had to postpone some of my pre-op stuff for a month till they got it fixed. It set my surgery back about a month. After it was fixed we had no problem at all with any of our medical stuff, in fact hubby had open heart surgery in July. I had my Lap Band 3 weeks ago. We will continue Cobra for 12 more months then figure out what insurance to get here in MA that is less expensive.

I got approval from BCBS in July. I got fired Aug 18th and my insurance terminates at the end of Aug. I will definitely do Cobra if the approval is going to carry over. Does anyone know if an insurance approval will carry over into Cobra?

Thanks for any info,

Jamie

Anything preapproved should be covered. Yes, the COBRA payments will be high, but worth it. See if they can move your surgery up as soon as possible. You are off work anyway and it will give you recovery time before you owe another month of COBRA premiums. Do what you need to do to make sure they get the payment. If you mail it, send it certified or pay it with a credit card. That way, you have proof they received it. The insurance company would love to get out of paying for that surgery. Good Luck!

are you sure they are going to offer you cobra? If you do, it will be the exact same coverage you had through your employer so yes you will still be covered. Make sure you make your cobra payments on time, though! and make sure they will offer you cobra; depending on why you were fired you may not qualify. Not trying to scare you; just giving you a head's up so you can find out.

Just FYI with cobra? People who say it's expensive? If you are on cobra law requires that you can ONLY be charged what your employer was paying for the coverage, plus a (very minimal) 2% for handling/processing etc. So if you are paying a lot, your employer was paying a lot for you to have that benefit. (former HR person here)

I did not take Cobra, but was offered it once when I switched jobs . . . and it was well over $1,000 a month. I was really shocked it was so high.

Just FYI with cobra? People who say it's expensive? If you are on cobra law requires that you can ONLY be charged what your employer was paying for the coverage, plus a (very minimal) 2% for handling/processing etc. So if you are paying a lot, your employer was paying a lot for you to have that benefit. (former HR person here)

Yes this is true. when I went on cobra last Sept. I could have gone on my huisbands insurance, But it was going to cost us the same , so we opted for cobra as I have much better coverage with my work then his.

It's so worth checking into if you had great covereage thru your work before.:smile: