How to Get Health Insurance Without A Job: Simple Steps to Get Quality Insurance
After losing your job or having your hours cut, you may find it hard to keep up with premium payments.
The loss of your job may even end up costing you the benefits of your existing plan especially if your employer was covering the cost of the insurance plan as part of your employee benefits.
However, despite the difficulties of job loss or having your hours cut, you will still need to get health care coverage.
Having health insurance is important as not only does it ensure that you get the health care that you need in case of an illness or injury, but also protects you from financial ruin in case you end up needing expensive medical care.
Here is what you should know about how to get health insurance when you don’t have a job.
Continuing with a previous plan
How to get health insurance without a job – Look into COBRA
If you are fine with the plan that your employer initially provided, and don’t mind paying the premiums, you can still receive the same coverage as you did before under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA).
This is great especially in cases where you are already getting coverage for treatments that you are receiving and so getting a new plan may end up costing you the coverage that you are already receiving.
For college students who don’t have a job, getting health insurance through COBRA will give them the option of continuing with the coverage that they are receiving on their parents’ health plan.
It is important to note that as far as affordability is concerned, this is not the best choice available in the market. Once you lose your job, this option extends your coverage, but it also extends your financial obligation in that you will probably have to keep on paying relatively high premiums.
Taking advantage of organizational memberships that offer low-cost health insurance
How to get health insurance without a job: Look into signing up for low-cost options
Even when you have lost your job, you can still have access to low-cost health insurance if you belong to certain organizations. While not all organizations have insurance coverage available for their members, a good number of them do.
Furthermore, even if these organizations do not pay or even split the cost of the insurance with their members, they can still get good rates for their members because they have better bargaining power under having more members.
To get access to the discounts offered by organization memberships, start by looking at all the organizations that you are already a member of.
Do not overlook any membership as even some university alumni associations offer discounted health insurance plans. However, if none of the organizations that you belong to have this option available, the next step should be to go to start researching the various organizations that already offer these plans.
Create a list of these organizations and then trim it down based on which ones you can easily join. After that, simply apply to join and then pay for the low-cost premiums to enjoy health coverage.
How to Get Health Insurance Without A Job: Opting for Medicare
Medicare is a relatively more affordable health care insurance option for people who do not have a job. The only downside is that not everyone can access it.
You can only enjoy its benefits and the low premium obligations that it carries if you are 65 years or older. But if you are below the 65 year age limit, you can also get access to its coverage only if you have a recognized disability or if you are suffering from one of a list of specific types of diseases.
Therefore, if you don’t fall into either of these categories, this is not an option that will be available to you.
How to Get Health Insurance Without A Job: Look into Medicaid
One of the main benefits of the passing of the Affordable Care Act is the fact that it lowered the qualifications for Medicaid.
It made it easier for more people to qualify for it. Different classes of people who don’t even have children can now qualify. In some cases, you can qualify even if you live above the poverty line.
As a result, if you have lost your job, you might already fall into the category of people who now qualify to enjoy the benefits of getting coverage under Medicare.
Looking into it as a way to get access to affordable health care coverage is therefore advisable.