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posted: 11/22/2006 reposted: 2/18/2011 This post has not been recently reviewed or revised by the author and may be out of date.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?