Does anyone know how to get theCOBRA subsidy? I got my COBRA bill

[xultar]

in the mail and I almost had a heart attack.

$500 bucks a month and my first bill is $800 bucks.

WHAT THE FUCKITY FUCK FUCK? DO THE FUCKERS KNOW THAT WHEN YOU ARE UNEMPLOYED THAT YOU HAVE LESS FUCKING MONEY THAN YOU DID WHEN YOU WERE WORKING???

I just realized that if I had the fucking heart attack I'd have been doubly fucked???

[Bluebear]

1. Yes, they know. And they don't care. I am so sorry for you.

[xultar]

3. I have a friend that works for AT&T and they changed their benefits to a $4000 deductable, no co pay

WTF is that.

Basically she has no health insurance. I'm sure if she could afford the copay she wouldn't need the fucking insurance.

They also took EVERYONE down to 80 hours of vacation regardless of seniority.

[Hestia]

14. What are you talking about? DH works at AT&T and this is not in his contract, nor just the 80 hours

of vacation. In which region does she work?

[xultar]

17. This is not union. This is AT&T what used to be Cingular in atlanta.

[Iris]

16. State of Georgia

that's an option for state employees in Georgia and they coerced people to sign up by giving a stipend for a medical health savings account the first year

[Dappleganger]

2. Here's what we did.

My husband contacted HR from his previous company and they told him the amount he'd owe with the subsidy. He paid it once a month (make sure to be on time!) and received regular bills. The first month of the subsidy had the full amount on the bill, the subsequent bills had the correct amount. Good luck. We ended up having to drop COBRA in favor of a less expensive, catostrophic only plan.

[DawgHouse]

13. This only works if the HR depart for the company is interested in helping you get the subsidy.

Your husband had a good HR manager. If the HR dept from the previous employer is slow in responding, you should call the DOL and they will push the subsidy application for you.

My son worked for ATT and his first COBRA payment was huge. Then the second bill came, then the third bill came. He kept calling ATT HR to ask them about the hold up on the subsidy application and they said they "hadn't heard back but will let him know if he qualified." He finally received a cancellation notice from the insurance company because he was not able to make the high payments. We have since learned that he should have called the DOL directly when ATT was being unresponsive and stone-walling him.

He is shopping for a catastrophic plan now too.

[NC_Nurse]

4. I'm right with you. Mine's $500 a month too. It was going to be $800 with my

husband on it, so we got him a catastrophic cheap policy. Unfortunately, I have pre-existing problems so I was turned down and had to stick with this obscenely high COBRA shit. I could not get any subsidy since i left my job voluntarily due to family illness, but you probably can, there should be forms in the packet for the subsidy. Good luck!

[upi402]

5. Exactly. and then some +1 n/t

[doc03]

6. It's called the HCTC, in Ohio you can apply

through the Jobs and Family Services site. Or just Google HCTC registration form. I think it pays 80% of your Cobra now.

[housewolf]

7. Call your former company's HR rep for the form

or whoever the admisinser of your COBRA plan is (and if you don't know, the HR rep will). They'll also know what your adjusted payment is (approx 35%). There's a form that you need to fill out and send back. It's not an application and there's no approval/denial process, just a form that you need to send back.

My form was with my COBRA eligibily information packet that they sent me.

[xultar]

8. I'll be callin effin early on Monday. Thanks!!!!!

[Ean Juan]

9. If the health bill passes tomorrow you shouldn't worry about it

The bill reduces health care costs. I'm sure that soon after reform passes your bill will be cut at least in half.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Ean Juan]

12. Huh? I signed up to reply to a thread that didn't exist when I signed up?

I'm God, by that logic.

[TK421]

11. My situation was not that bad, but Cobra would have paid into the subsidy for at

least 1/3rd the cost of my former employer. My bill would have come to about $190.00 a month...something I could not afford anyway...and I was already in debt

Yeah, Cobra is a big help alright..for those who can afford it

[WaltzingMtilda]

15. I'm in HR and just came off of COBRA - this may help?

Yep, it is quite the shock - just came off of COBRA myself.

Please be aware that to qualify for the subsidy, you must be "completely" unemployed. That is to say you cannot have any reported income, or you will be required to pay for the full premium. I speak from experience...I was fortunate that my company could offer me one day a week during seasonal lay-offs, but the down side was the 100% premium. If you don't work at all, you only have to pay 35% (which is actually less than the 50% that I pay when I work full time, which of course makes sense, since as you say, you have less money now).

Sounds like you have already filled out the regular paperwork since you are getting a bill. BUT if you did not fill out the subsidy app (which would have been part of your packet) do it ASAP...there are deadlines.

If you did fill out the subsidy app and are not working at all, it may just be the big bill is a result of a very typical processing lapse. If you've qualified you should see a correction in your next bill.

Either way, as others have suggested, call your HR company on Monday as planned...again, there are deadlines and you don't want to miss this.

I do some HR administration for my company, so I am seeing the COBRA thing from both sides. It's been a hell of a learning experience!

Hope this helps, and good luck to you.