Healthcare is considered among the most basic necessities required for survival in today’s world. Given the high cost of healthcare, paying hospital bills from the pocket can be a very expensive affair, hence the need for a medical insurance cover. With a medical insurance cover, a premium is paid to the insurance company at the end of every year and the insurance company in turn pays for medical bills every time you visit a medical institution. This premium can also be paid by an employer allowing an employee and his family to access healthcare.
Cobra insurance, Shillington PA is a kind of insurance that is meant for workers who have been laid off from their jobs. It gives them an extension of the cover even when they are no longer employees of the company. The word ‘cobra’ is an abbreviation for the term Consolidate Omnibus Reconciliation Act. It is a set law that allows one to get an extension of up to 18months of their medical insurance cover they had during the period they were employed.
Although this medical cover is included in federal law and every employer is obligated to offer it to employees laid off. It is specifically meant to cover former employees as they seek an alternative medical cover since they are no longer eligible for corporate medical cover.
* Cobra insurance has been able to help laid off individuals as they seek to settle down in new jobs. The 18-month period is very sufficient time for one to look for another job. The cobra insurance is as a result of an act that was passed in 1985, and is therefore part of federal law that must be adhered to at all times by every employer in order to protect the welfare of employees.
* Upon being laid off by an employer, an employee has a period of 90 days to apply for cobra insurance, and if they fail to do so within the 90 day period they lose their benefit since this is the set time window for application of the scheme. This is a rule set in order to prevent abuse of this law by individuals.
* Under cobra insurance, an employee has the same benefits they had during their time of employment. They are however required to continue paying the premiums and as before, they are also supposed to pay the same amount their employers used to pay towards this scheme. Employers can also continue to contribute a certain minimum percentage towards this.
* Cobra insurance, Shillington PA is regulated by the department of labour and therefore insurance companies have very little control over the policy. This however may not be the most affordable form of insurance cover.
