You Have No Job, You Have No Health Insurance

Scenario: Your COBRA health coverage is about to end, and you still don’t have a job with benefits. Worse, you have some health problems, and you may not qualify for a policy on your own.

Solution: Despite your health problems, you may qualify for an individual policy if your condition is treatable. To get price quotes from several insurers in your area, contact eHealthInsurance.com (call 800-977-8860 to discuss your health situation rather than requesting an online quote), or find a health-insurance agent in your area at www.nahu.org.

Because you’re coming off COBRA, you have access to some special health-insurance options.
People who exhaust their COBRA eligibility can buy certain policies regardless of their health condition
as long as they don’t have a gap in coverage longer than 63 days. You also may be eligible for
assistance in paying health-insurance premiums. Twenty states have Health Insurance Premium Payment (HIPP) programs,
which help low-income people with medical conditions pay private health-insurance premiums. Go to
www.coverageforall.org for more information about your state’s rules. Or contact your state insurance department
(you can find links to the state departments at www.naic.org).