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Unemployed weigh health insurance
(News & Observer, The (Raleigh, NC) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Mar. 1--With more layoffs looming as the economy continues to struggle, what are the rising number of unemployed without health insurance to do?
Here are some options:
--Ride it out and hope for the best.
Community health centers provide medical care for the uninsured and charge based on income.
Drugmakers provide free medications through the Partnership for Prescription Drug Assistance for eligible applicants. The program is run by the drug industry's trade group PhRMA. To check out the program go to www.pparx" target="_new">www.pparx.org/Intro.php">www.pparx.org/Intro.
phptro.php.
--Get coverage through a spouse's or domestic partner's employer.
Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, unemployed workers who lost their employer-sponsored health insurance have 30 days to enroll in a plan offered by their spouse's or domestic partner's employer.
--Continue coverage through COBRA.
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA, allows eligible workers to stay in the health plan they had at their former job. COBRA coverage is usually good for 18 months but can be expensive.
Some people who became unemployed because their jobs went overseas can get help with their COBRA premiums through the health coverage tax credit.
In North Carolina, state laws extend COBRA benefits to workers whose former employer had fewer than 20 workers. They also require insurers to convert some coverage to individual policies if staying in a former employer's plan isn't an option.
--Trade adjustment assistance.
Under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reform Act, or TAARA, workers who lost their jobs because of trade policy -- for example, increased imports or jobs moving overseas -- may be eligible to have 65 percent of their health insurance costs paid for up to three years. Those certified under TAARA can register for health coverage tax credits.
--Check out other programs, such as Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program or coverage through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
--Buy an individual health insurance policy.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina is the largest provider, but a number of insurers market individual policies in North Carolina. For a list go to www.ncdoi.com/Consumer/consumer_health" target="_new">www.ncdoi.com/Consumer/consumer_health.asp">www.ncdoi.com/Consumer/consumer_health.aspsumer_health.asp.
Annual premiums in North Carolina averaged $3,080, above the national average of $2,613, according to a December 2007 report by the American Health Insurance Plans Center for Policy and Research.
--Insurer of last resort.
The N.C. Health Insurance Risk Pool is available to those who lack insurance because they have health problems, have exhausted their COBRA benefits or lost their jobs to overseas competition. It's also available to people who would otherwise have to pay exorbitant insurance premiums because of high-risk health conditions.
A waiting period applies. Premiums, which vary widely, tend to be 175 percent of what a healthy person would pay on average but considerably lower than insurance in the private sector. A 51-year-old female nonsmoker, for example, pays $426 under the plan with the highest deductible.
To see more of The News & Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsobserver.com.
Copyright (c) 2009, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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