Gap Health Insurance Solutions

Gap health insurance is something that happens a lot when you are switching job. It is the time gap between the time your health insurance from your old company end and the health insurance from your new company start.

The gap is unavoidable, and sometimes you’re left with the dilemma. Of course, you can just be without medical insurance between the times, praying that you won’t get sick during that time. But what if the time gap is a month or more?

Lots of things can happen in a month, that’s for sure. What if you get sick during that month and then the new company’s insurance decline your application because of perceived pre-existing condition?

The time gap health insurance is a problem for anybody switching job, although that’s not the only scenario in which you’ll be faced with this dilemma.

Even when finally you start working in the new company, sometimes they require you to work for a month or so before giving you the benefit of the insurance. There is also a case in which you are laid off a few months before your 65^th birthday. Well, worry not. We have the solution right here.

How to Fill the Time Gap Health Insurance

There are actually a lot of other choices than staying at home and hoping you won’t break a leg. One of them is through applying for short-term individual health insurance. If you are physically healthy, there are a lot of companies offering this plan on a very low price, and you can cover the gap health insurance by paying the premium yourself.

Another way of covering your gap health insurance is by checking with your state as to whether they have a continuation laws called mini COBRA. Small employers will be asked to include a departing employee in their company group’s health plan for a period of time by paying the full premium. The maximum number of days for a break in health coverage is 63 days by law, so one of your employers should be able to cover you beyond that time.

Time Gap Health Insurance Prior to Medicare Eligibility

In some cases, where you lose your job or are laid off before you are 65, you will also experience time gap health insurance, because you won’t have your company’s health plan and you’re not yet eligible for Medicare which start when you turn 65. In that case, the easier way is to find out the company’s policy about COBRA.

A company with more than 25 employees has to offer COBRA. It is supposed to give the employees the same health benefit for a limited time, but with a higher out-of-pocket cost. Some other companies also offer a retirement plan which you need to analyze too, in order to mix and match for a cheaper result.

COBRA is especially recommended to people who are in the middle of sickness treatment. It will benefit them greatly as they’re able to stick with the same doctor with the same amount of cost arrangement. It’s not the cheapest option available, though, so you might consider different arrangement for other family members.

You will reach the best solution for everybody by mixing the options available and considering the needs of each person. Even working a part time job with a health plan would also work well for filling up the gap health insurance.