Health and Medical Insurance has never been more necessary than it is today. The cost of health care is steadily rising and is showing no signs of slowing down. A big portion of the American public is unable to pay for their medical bills without the aid of Health and Medical Insurances. Most Medical and Health Insurance is availed with the assistance of employers. Companies provide health insurance to their employers as service benefits.
In some cases, these insurances are not enough to cover for major medical needs, but it is better than nothing at all. Because the employers are the ones assisting their personnel in availing Health and Medical Insurance, it then follows that if the employee is fired, or if his work hours are cut down or the employee dies, the Health and Medical Insurance Policy sustained by salary from the employer will be affected. In these cases the individual or his benefactors are left without any Insurance to assist them in their Medical needs. That is where COBRA Insurance steps in.
COBRA stands for “Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act”. It maybe a mouthful in its full form, but the “Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act”, is a law that aims to help people who find themselves in any of the situations stated above. COBRA was passed in 1986 and it aims to help workers and their Insurance beneficiaries (Spouse, Children and Family Members) to have some form of security in the event of termination, employment changes and death or in other circumstances like divorce or spousal separation. Its main function is to allow the said individuals to apply for insurance continuation despite the mentioned events. COBRA in short provides its clients with a Continued Coverage which means that a client can avail of the Insurance despite him being no longer with the company that helped him pay for the health insurance in the first place.
COBRA has different kinds of extended coverage for the different circumstances that it is availed under. Insurance company’s generally has a time period upon termination, decrease in work hours or death for the individual for the beneficiaries to apply for policy continuance for the period of time agreed upon or until the individual gets a new job. It is expressly stated that it is the individual’s or the beneficiaries’ responsibility to inform their insurance providers of the circumstance that they need to avail of COBRA.
That is why, the moment that you fall into the situation of you needing to activate your COBRA Insurance , you should inform your insurance provider as fast as possible so that you will not fall into a situation that will result in you or your beneficiaries loosing the right to avail of it.
One thing to remember about COBRA is that it is a law passed in accordance with the US Department of Labor in 1986, it is not a company that is being endorsed in any way whatsoever. You can avail of COBRA through your company’s chosen Insurance Agency. GP
