HELP - Anyone know of health insuarance that begins effective sign up

[dfchelbay]

Is there any insurance carrier that offers insurance effective sign up any more? My SIL lost her insurance at work & thought she could just sign up for private policy & when paid it was in effect & she can't find any that start before Feb 1st when looking online. I think hers ended 12/31. I've always paid for my own policy & I wasn't aware there is a 1st of the month only rule now for private individual policy either. Any help I can pass along to her would be appreciated. She's going a little crazy right now thinking she won't have coverage for the month of January. Thanks

 

[lisaross]

she could always fall back on her cobra if she needed to - you have a couple ofmonths to pay for Cobra and it is retro

Is there any insurance carrier that offers insurance effective sign up any more? My SIL lost her insurance at work & thought she could just sign up for private policy & when paid it was in effect & she can't find any that start before Feb 1st when looking online. I think hers ended 12/31. I've always paid for my own policy & I wasn't aware there is a 1st of the month only rule now for private individual policy either. Any help I can pass along to her would be appreciated. She's going a little crazy right now thinking she won't have coverage for the month of January. Thanks

 

[dfchelbay]

she could always fall back on her cobra if she needed to - you have a couple ofmonths to pay for Cobra and it is retro

Thanks, is her COBRA still in effect if her employer no longer offers any medical insurance? I'm wondering if the group policy for everyone she works with is gone, like effective an end date of 12/31. I'll tell her about COBRA. I'm sure it's a lot because she has mentioned that she only paid a portion of her insurance & her company paid majority of it. It's for just one month, so she may have to suck it up until Feb 1st. Thanks

 

[lisaross]

If the Cobra is available, she does NOT have to pay for the month UNLESS she uses it..you can pay retro

 

[dfchelbay]

If the Cobra is available, she does NOT have to pay for the month UNLESS she uses it..you can pay retro

Thanks. I just relayed that to her. I also told her to double check that COBRA is available to her under her current situation of Employer ending insurance group contract all together, since it is not a loss of job situation for her, being that she is still working there. She said no one got any letter offering continued coverage via COBRA. She also spoke to her insurance carrier today and they said she's still listed as being insured with them & they've gotten no notice of group contract being cancelled. I feel bad for her that she'll likely have no information until Monday when everyone goes back to work.

 

[Marionnette]

Is there any insurance carrier that offers insurance effective sign up any more? My SIL lost her insurance at work & thought she could just sign up for private policy & when paid it was in effect & she can't find any that start before Feb 1st when looking online. I think hers ended 12/31. I've always paid for my own policy & I wasn't aware there is a 1st of the month only rule now for private individual policy either. Any help I can pass along to her would be appreciated. She's going a little crazy right now thinking she won't have coverage for the month of January. Thanks

AFAIK, all insurance companies make health insurance effective on the first of the month which follows the month when your application is made. That is true whether you go through your employer or pay for it privately. Even if you were to go on the government exchange website to obtain coverage, you would not be able to get a policy that covers you effective today. You can apply up until the 15th of this month for coverage that begins Feb. 1.

COBRA is not available to employees who have lost their coverage due to the employer no longer offering that benefit. That's why no one at her workplace got any letters about signing up for it. She should start the process rolling on getting her own coverage which starts Feb.1 A lot of insurance companies are transitioning from 2014 to 2015 and their databases are a mess! Their system may show that she is covered right now, but if her employer did not pay the premium (which is due by the 15th of the month for the current month's coverage), then the insurance company will terminate coverage on the 16th and will deny any claims made from 1/1/15 forward.