Here’s How You Can Check To See If You Qualify For Health Insurance After A Job Loss

If you had job-based health insurance and lost it due to losing your job during this time, you have options. In fact, more than one option is available, so don’t get discouraged.

If you had to leave your job for any reason and lost your health insurance through your job, you can buy a Marketplace plan.

Whether you quit or were fired, a special enrollment has been opened up due to the global pandemic. Usually this enrollment is only available once a year.

You can get coverage as early as the first day of the month after you have lost your insurance. This could make the amount of time you’re without insurance extremely short.

When you fill out your Marketplace application, you will be able to see if you can save on your monthly premiums and out-of-pocket costs based on your income.

During this time, you can also find out if you qualify for a free or low-cost coverage from Medicaid or CHIP. You can check your options without even having to create an account.

Once you’ve decided to go for a Marketplace plan, you then will have to create an account to start your application. But you can estimate the prices and plans before doing so.

The second option that you have is to sign up for COBRA to continue your job-based insurance. This is a great temporary solution to having lost your insurance.

COBRA can extend your job-based insurance for up 18 months until you are able to go back to work or find another option. To learn about your COBRA options, you will need to contact your employer of the job you just left or lost.

Go to www.healthcare.gov to see if you qualify for any of these options and don’t be discouraged. I hope that you can get the financial relief that you need during this time. Until the world mends from all of this, stay safe.