Medical COBRA - The Bridge to Nowhere?

By law, employers that terminate their employees are required to offer continuing coverage of whatever health insurance plans you were on at the time of termination, be it vision, dental, or medical. COBRA, as this program is known, is designed to "bridge the gap" between your present health plan and your next one. It obligates employers to extend benefits coverage to you temporarily, anywhere from 18 to 36 months.<br><br>Meanwhile, you are expected to find your own health insurance plan. This could be either through employment with another company, becoming a dependent on your spouse's health insurance plan, or by buying your own private health insurance.<br><br>COBRA has one major catch: You are required to continue paying the monthly premiums. How's that for a catch-22? First your employer lays you off, so you no longer have an income. But they "generously" offer to keep providing you coverage, as long as you pay for it... with money that you're no longer making!<br><br>What's even more preposterous is that if you want benefits that cover full dental, vision, and medical, COBRA plans require you to pay the employer's share of your medical premiums as well! As an employee, you were blissfully unaware that your employer was actually paying half of your medical premium to the insurance company on your behalf. You had been only paying half of the premium amount.<br><br>Under COBRA, you get no such love. Your monthly premiums will be at least double what they were before you were terminated.<br><br>So is it really in your best interests to "bridge the gap" and remain insured for medical COBRA coverage for too long? You are almost always better off taking a detour away from this "bridge to nowhere" and shop around for a better deal through a private health insurance provider.

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