I received a letter showing cobra will be almost $1,000 a month for me. Has annoying received their letter from cobra? Is it expensive also? Just curious and are you guys keeping it? How do they expect us to pay that much if we are laid off?
14 replies (most recent on top)
At present many have not received severance package which effects Cobra premium amounts. Call HR and make a ticket regarding severance not being paid out and affecting one’s monthly enormous bill for Cobra, mine was over $1,170.00 for April coverage. This will be refunded or banked at a later date once HR processes the severance package. Also call Connect Your Care Cobra to make ticket regarding this as well. HR said they ARE BACKLOGGED BECAUSE CENTENE ONLY HAS 3 STAFF ASSIGNED TO PROCESS THE 3,000 LAYOFFS! This is some mf-ing BS while a pandemic is occurring. My LABOR LAW ATTORNEY SAID Centene layoffs are discriminatory, but who can afford fighting these corporate attorneys. I’m sure the CEO never has had to wait for his checks. The company has gone down the toilet per providers, blogs, state complaints, and staff
Just got this email late this afternoon (excerpt):
Centene Corporation- American Rescue Plan Act- COBRA subsidy
As you may know, a new legislation was recently passed on March 11, 2021 called the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). It allows qualified employees who were involuntarily terminated by their employer during a qualified period of time defined by the legislature to have fully subsidized COBRA, which means the employee pays no premiums for their medical, dental and/or vision coverage during a specific window of time (as long as the employee was enrolled in these benefits at the time of termination, and they are not eligible for any other Group Health Plan or Medicare). The period of time in which employers must offer the 100% subsidy is retroactive from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021. According to our records, you may qualify for this subsidy. Just got this email from Corporate late this afternoon:
You may have already received a COBRA packet from ConnectYourCare (CYC) or will be receiving it in the next few weeks. Please review the information and follow the instructions to enroll in COBRA if you want to continue Centene coverage. You must enroll and make payment by the indicated deadline to continue your medical, dental and/or vision coverage. The Department of Labor (DOL) is providing employers additional guidance on ARPA in mid-April. Then official notification of the ARPA subsidy will be sent to each affected employee by CYC in May, notifying you of the availability of the subsidy. If you are not eligible for another Group Health Plan or Medicare, follow the instructions provided to enroll for the ARPA subsidy after you receive that information...
@6azk+1a3NYfSG From what I understand, our COBRA administrator (CYC) is required by law to notify us of the availability of this new ARPA benefit and provide us with detailed information by the end of May. CYC is waiting to get direction from Centene on the details at this point, including what portion they cover, for how long, and if we’re reimbursed retroactively for what we already paid. From what I’ve read, that should be from April 1 through the end of September and that we would qualify based on being RIF’d.
i just signed up for the COBRA which had an original price tag of about $850.00 a month. The actual amount I'm paying is around $250.00 per month. Hoping we get whatever we pay back once they work out the most recent stimulus that should cover all of COBRA through September.
Healthcare company not providing long term Healthcare for laid off employees during a pandemic. I cannot believe what I just wrote.
Best to take any job if it offers Healthcare for the time being. My rate rates are 1350 a month. Crazy. Long time employee thrown out the door replaced by younger 30 year old. Blatant age discrimination.
I contacted CareConnect, I was advised Centene have to respond by May to them and employee if we are qualified for the bill President Biden passed for the 100% COBA April-Sept 2021 coverage. We still have till May to elect a product for those who has a termination date 3/12/2021. We are not obligated to have COBA and can cancel anytime from what I was told. I went ahead and elect b/c I don’t want to miss the deadline. I just want to know if anyone received the same information. I do not want to be stuck with this high cost insurance bill that I really can’t afford. I am still unemployed. Thanks for inquiring about the COBA. I honestly saw the letter and set it aside with no intention of signing up or looking over it again because the amount was insane. I wouldn’t have known about the bill. Thank you for this tread. I feel at peace till September for health coverage. I hope this information is helpful to those confused or feeling overwhelmed. Good luck!
You need to check with both your COBRA administrator (for the former WellCare folks, it was ConnectYourCare or CYC) and do your research online about the subsidies offered in the latest stimulus bill. The research is up to you because CYC seems to be clueless.
How does the new law affect this. The American rescue plan has provisions for 100 percent cobra subsidies last I checked
Thank goodness for this board and the info received. Didn’t know about the stimulus subsidy regarding COBRA. I’m hoping I qualify. Can’t see as how I wouldn’t. I got laid off in January and have paid 2 months of the COBRA premium so far. I might contact COBRA to find out.
Thank goodness for this board and the info received. Didn’t know about the stimulus subsidy regarding COBRA. I’m hoping I qualify. Can’t see as how I wouldn’t. I got laid off in January and have paid 2 months of the COBRA premium so far. I might contact COBRA to find out.
Yep, I received the same type of nonsense. I was also under the impression per the Covid relief bill, that we shouldn’t have to pay anything until September. Maybe I’m misunderstanding everything.
If you live in California check rates with Covered California. Usually a good alternative to COBRA. Less expensive for the same or better coverage.
So, evidently we all get different subsidy terms - mine is only 3 months. Individual BC/BS plan totals almost $1000 with premium medical, dental & vision - my payment is $225 after they pay subsidy. No, I will not be able to afford it once subsidy ends; I mean, who could? Unless I get another job, Hello Marketplace. 😒
I will say the COBRA was not explained that well. I wasn't what all those documents were. I eventually did sign up for it once I realized that I had to to cover my medical expenses (mind you, I had someone from Cigna explain it to me). But minus Centene's subsidy, I pay about $187.