Tony Novak profile picture
  "AskTony" column archive        


Categories

Most Popular

AskTony Archive

This Web site contains a compilation of more than a thousand consumer finance  columns written by Tony Novak from the 1980s through 2006, updated and reformatted for maximum usefulness today.  New material was added after 2010.

Content is the opinion of the author and does not represent the position of any other person or entity. Information is from sources believed to be reliable but cannot be guaranteed.

The author is paid for product endorsements and has an ownership or other financial interest in the businesses related to the topics covered.

New questions

Submit consumer finance questions at OnlineAdviser.org and health insurance questions at OnlineNavigator.org

Sponsored by:

FreedomBenefits.net Insurance Exchange - your source of valuable information on state and federal health reform benefits.

Core Health Insurance - America's favorite mini-med insurance  with affordable premiums, freedom to choose providers, optional PPO discounts and guaranteed eligibility regardless of medical conditions.

Please support the Web sites that make publication of AskTony services possible.

Job changing strategies

originally posted: 11/22/2006  reposted: 2/18/2011 This post has not been recently reviewed or revised by the author and may be out of date. If you notice an error or are in doubt, please send a new question by email or ask for an update. Email asktony@tonynovak.com.

Q: I am in the process of changing jobs and will need to keep my insurance. However, I do not want to take COBRA because of the cost. I am looking for short term medical insurance but I have a pre-existing condition called crohn’s disease. Is there any short term plans that cover pre-existing conditions?

A: Short term medical insurance does not cover the cost of pre-existing medical conditions. That is why it costs so much less than medical insurance through COBRA. Your decision is based simply on the cost of treating the Chron's disease during the period between jobs. Simply compare the cash cost of your current medical treatment with the savings of STM over the COBRA. If the cost is higher, keep the COBRA. If the cost of your current medical treatment is lower than the savings offered by STM, then use STM. More important, consideration is that carrying continuous coverage in one form or the other - either with short term medical insurance or the COBRA - will guarantee that your Chron's disease will be covered under your new employer's plan. Do not make the mistake of allowing a gap in coverage of more than two months because this would result in your Chron's disease not being covered under the new employer's health plan for a much period of time.

Summary

More resources:

Ten Tips for Replacing Health Insurance Coverage Is the cost of COBRA justified?