Is anybody willing to share their severance package info with us? Have there been any changes to it? What happens to the medical, does it end immediately or do you have some time to find a replacement? I don't know anybody personally who's been hit otherwise I'd ask them.
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My severance package last Fall was as follows (at least what I can remember):
- One week of pay for every year of service
- Medical and dental through the last day of your severance period. Caution: they deduct medical insurance from your severance checks so you would think that medical insurance would run through the end of that month; right? Wrong, it ends on the last day of your severance period regardless of where you are in the month.
- Outplacement services through 3rd party vendor BPI Group - Really sharp, helpful people and excellent website with resources. They helped me get my resume and LinkedIn profile on point...
- All the rest of your benefits end the day you walk out the door IIRC.
Caution: Ascension HR isn't very sharp which is surprising since they've laid off close to 2000 IT employees over the last year.
There is a KB article in ServiceNow that outlines the details. You are unable to print, save, or download...so it is not traceable if the document is updated.
I have heard that Ascension will pay their current payment of your insurance for Cobra and you pay yours, through the severance period (however many weeks that may be for your position). Then you can pick up the full Cobra payment through the remaining months (total 18 months).
Caution: If you have children still on your plan under the age of 26 and they are working and can get insurance through their employers, have them check with their employers to see how they can switch to their company insurance (if offered). They might have to do it at the time you leave your job (and Cobra kicks in) for it to meet "change in status" or you might have to wait until Cobra is fully run out or you get new insurance. It depends on the employer. Same situation but two different employers of my girls handled the change differently. After my severance period expired, my daughter tried to pick up insurance through her employer. Even though I had a "change in status" (no more income after severance period!), they didn't recognize it as a change in status. Had to keep daughter on my Cobra plan and let it run fully out (I didn't go back to work) before she could sign up with her company.
Just do your homework with your children's employers to understand "change in status". It just goes to show how screwed up our health care system is when you're working, not working, and in between.