This story additionally ran on NPR. This story will be republished without cost (details).
People who’ve been laid off or furloughed from their jobs now have considerably extra time to determine whether or not to hold on to their employer-sponsored medical insurance, in accordance with a latest federal rule.
Under the federal law known as COBRA, individuals who lose their job-based protection due to a layoff or a discount of their hours typically have 60 days to determine whether or not to proceed their medical insurance. But underneath the new rule, that clock doesn’t begin ticking till the top of the COVID-19 “outbreak period,” which began March 1 and continues for 60 days after the COVID-19 nationwide emergency ends. That finish date hasn’t been decided but.
By extending the timeframe to join COBRA protection, individuals have a minimum of 120 days to determine whether or not they need to elect COBRA, and presumably longer relying on after they misplaced their jobs.
Take the instance of somebody who was laid off in April, and picture that the nationwide emergency ends Aug. 31. Sixty days after that date takes the particular person to the top of October. Then the common 60-day COBRA election interval would begin after that. So, underneath this instance, somebody whose employer protection ended in the beginning of May might have till the top of December to decide about whether or not to join COBRA, with protection retroactive to the start of May.
Some well being coverage consultants query the usefulness of the change, given how costly COBRA protection will be for customers, and the way restricted its attain: It isn’t an choice for people who find themselves uninsured or self-employed or who work for small corporations.
“For ideological reasons, this administration can’t do anything to expand on the Affordable Care Act’s safety net,” mentioned Sabrina Corlette, a analysis professor at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms. “So they’re using these other vehicles. But it’s really a fig leaf. It doesn’t do much to actually help people.”
What does this rule change imply for employees? If you could have misplaced your job, listed below are some issues to think about.
Email Sign-Up
Subscribe to KHN’s free Morning Briefing.
Playing a Waiting Game
Under the brand new rule, employees can maintain their COBRA choices open far longer than earlier than. It’s all the time been the case that folks might take a wait-and-see strategy to signing up for COBRA through the first 60 days after shedding their protection. If they wanted care throughout that point, they may elect COBRA, pay the again premiums and proceed their protection. But in the event that they didn’t want care throughout that point, they may save a piece of cash on premiums earlier than choosing different protection to kick in after the 60-day interval.
Now, individuals have much more time to attend and see. Under the rule, as soon as the administration declares the nationwide emergency over, laid-off employees would get 120 days to determine whether or not to buy their job-based insurance coverage — 60 days underneath the brand new rule and the common 60 days allowed as a part of the COBRA regulation.
“It becomes a long-term unpaid insurance policy,” mentioned Jason Levitis, a nonresident fellow on the Center for Health Policy on the Brookings Institution. “There’s no reason to enroll until something bad happens.”
This is just not with out danger, client advocates level out. Someone who has a critical medical emergency — a automobile accident or a stroke — may not be capable of course of their COBRA paperwork earlier than they want medical care.
Waiting too lengthy might additionally have an effect on individuals’s potential to join different protection. When individuals lose job-based protection, it triggers a particular enrollment interval that permits them to join new protection on their state medical insurance market for as much as 60 days afterward.
“You could miss your opportunity to enroll in the [insurance] exchange” created underneath the Affordable Care Act, mentioned Katy Johnson, senior counsel for well being coverage on the American Benefits Council, an employer advocacy group.
Don’t Count on the Boss to Clue You In
Employers aren’t mandated to inform individuals promptly about their eligibility for COBRA. The similar federal rule that provides employees extra time to join COBRA additionally pushes again the notification necessities for employers.
“Once an employer lays you off, they don’t have to notify you that you’re eligible for COBRA until after the emergency period,” mentioned Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow at KFF, the Kaiser Family Foundation. (KHN is an editorially unbiased program of the inspiration.)
For many employers, particularly massive ones that outsource their advantages administration, notifications are routine and are persevering with regardless of the federal change, mentioned Alan Silver, a senior director at advantages marketing consultant Willis Towers Watson. However, for smaller corporations with fewer than 200 employees, getting the data out is perhaps a difficulty, Silver mentioned.
Costs Can Be Jaw-Dropping
Opting for COBRA is pricey as a result of employees must pay each their portion of the premium and their employer’s share, plus a 2% administrative price. A 48-year-old paid $599 a month on common for particular person COBRA protection final yr, in accordance with a KFF evaluation.
In addition, if individuals elect COBRA a number of months after shedding their protection, they may very well be on the hook for hundreds of dollars in again premiums.
The upside for former workers is that sticking with their earlier employer’s plan means they don’t have to begin from scratch paying down a brand new deductible on a brand new plan. Nor have they got to search out new medical doctors, as typically occurs when individuals change well being plans and supplier networks change.
Ten p.c of employees laid off or furloughed due to the coronavirus pandemic reported they’d COBRA protection, in accordance with a survey performed final spring by the Commonwealth Fund.
The COBRA extension is obtainable solely to individuals who labored at corporations with 20 or extra workers and had job-sponsored protection earlier than being laid off or furloughed. If the corporate goes out of enterprise, there’s no medical insurance to proceed to purchase.
Might Hospitals Step In to Pay Premiums?
Employers are usually not massive followers of this system. Workers who elect COBRA are usually older and sicker than others with employer protection, the KFF evaluation discovered. They could have critical medical situations that make them costly to cowl and lift employer prices.
Some coverage consultants are involved that giving individuals extra time to join COBRA leaves the door open for hospitals or different suppliers to supply to pay sick sufferers’ again premiums with a purpose to enhance their very own fee above what they’d obtain if somebody had been on Medicaid or uninsured. Doing so may very well be a boon for some sufferers however increase well being care prices for employers, mentioned Christopher Condeluci, a well being care lawyer who does authorized and coverage work across the Affordable Care Act and ERISA points.
“Employers are worried,” mentioned Pollitz. After getting laid off, “what if you’re uninsured and you wind up in the hospital six months in, and then the hospital social worker learns you’re eligible for COBRA and offers to pay your premium?”
Correction: This story was up to date on July 20 at 9:40 a.m. ET to right Jason Levitis’ title. He is a nonresident fellow on the Center for Health Policy on the Brookings Institution.
Michelle Andrews: [email protected]”>[email protected], @mandrews110
Related Topics Cost and Quality Health Care Costs Insurance Uninsured COVID-19 src=”http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-Eight”>
