Health Insurance question and update on me/DH job situation

[starryfish]

So not sure if y'all remember my post before (beer job vs construction job), but my DH decided to continue his job search and got a better job than the one he interviewed before. He is very happy with it and so am I.

So my dumb insurance question is....we will most likely pull him off my policy and put him on his policy since it will be cheaper. But if I want to switch to his policy later (open season), can I do that? I have recently been diagnosed with a rare disease so I want to make sure that won't screw me with having to pass a medical questionnaire (I know Obamacare might prevent this, but its a small company so want to make sure)

thanks! :-)

[Elsa]

I believe pre-existing conditions can no longer prevent you from obtaining coverage

[irene adler]

This us an awesome update!

Yes, you should be able to switch over.

[Pom]

Congrats to Mr. starryfish. We are all here for you too.

[ijack]

Do you have the same open enrollment periods?

[sfy]

I don't have an answer, but congratulations to him !

[starryfish]

Jul 29, 2015 13:12:15 GMT -5 ijack said:

Do you have the same open enrollment periods?

That is a good question, not sure yet (still waiting on receiving his health insurance information so I can look at it).

[ijack]

I'm not sure how it works if you don't make the change during the life event (new job) and your open enrollment periods aren't the same. It might also complicate things if plan years aren't the same - like you don't enroll him in your new plan year which starts Jan 2016 and his plan year doesn't start until Feb 2016 then you'd have a month he wasn't covered.

And I'm sorry about your recent diagnosis

[starryfish]

Jul 29, 2015 13:16:13 GMT -5 ijack said:

I'm not sure how it works if you don't make the change during the life event (new job) and your open enrollment periods aren't the same. It might also complicate things if plan years aren't the same - like you don't enroll him in your new plan year which starts Jan 2016 and his plan year doesn't start until Feb 2016 then you'd have a month he wasn't covered.

And I'm sorry about your recent diagnosis

Thanks, I did not even think about this. If they overlapped, then that would be fine. Definitely something for him to ask

I have very good insurance (fed) but want to double check to see if his might be better

[tacosforlife]

For group insurance plans (which is what employer provided plans are), as long as you do not have a gap in coverage longer than 63 days, the new insurance must cover pre-existing conditions.

For more information, start here: www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_hipaa.html

It also addresses special enrollment, which is enrollment outside of open enrollment.

Congrats to him, and best wishes for managing your condition.

[genet313]

No advice but nice update!!

ETA:  Just b/c I'm nosey, how did you resolve the beer job thing?  Is he doing anything part time/weekends?

[starryfish]

Jul 29, 2015 13:23:46 GMT -5 genet313 said:

No advice but nice update!!

ETA:  Just b/c I'm nosey, how did you resolve the beer job thing?  Is he doing anything part time/weekends?

After some issues at the brewery, he wanted to get out ASAP and get a better paying stable job. So it was him that really pushed it (and I was glad with it especially bc of the issues).

I think he might still work part time on the weekends, but he is kind of burnt out right now, so we will see.

This situation seemed so tricky when I posted about it because I was so concerned someone was going to be unhappy but it has worked out very well!

[atarianna]

May I ask how much cheaper moving him over will be? Have you considered how much this could cost over the year when including the potential medical costs, not just the premiums?

With fed plans, the premium cost is usually not too bad, and the coverage is phenomenal with low deductibles and co-pays.

We actually have a relatively unknown fed plan, GEHA and I could not rave any more about it. Premiums are low (family), coverage is awesome and it's $350 deductibles, $5 RX and $10co pays. Also, they have a dental rider that covers 50% of dental costs when submitted for reimbursement. They do not fight me on coverage like BCBS used to and customer service is top notch.

[starryfish]

Jul 29, 2015 13:53:01 GMT -5 atarianna said:

May I ask how much cheaper moving him over will be? Have you considered how much this could cost over the year when including the potential medical costs, not just the premiums?

With fed plans, the premium cost is usually not too bad, and the coverage is phenomenal with low deductibles and co-pays.

We actually have a relatively unknown fed plan, GEHA and I could not rave any more about it. Premiums are low (family), coverage is awesome and it's $350 deductibles, $5 RX and $10co pays. Also, they have a dental rider that covers 50% of dental costs when submitted for reimbursement. They do not fight me on coverage like BCBS used to and customer service is top notch.

I just got the info and it looks like we will keep him on mine as it would only be cheaper if we moved him to a HSA plan instead of my BCBS plan.

They do allow coverage of spouse but I think we will stay on mine for now. Open enrollment is at the end of the year so that jives with federal.

[dr.girlfriend]

Also, keeping in mind that there may be a surcharge if you are eligible for insurance with your employer but instead choose to be on his policy. Sometimes that takes away a lot of the benefit of switching.

[mich1]

Jul 29, 2015 12:40:58 GMT -5 starryfish said:

So not sure if y'all remember my post before (beer job vs construction job), but my DH decided to continue his job search and got a better job than the one he interviewed before. He is very happy with it and so am I.

So my dumb insurance question is....we will most likely pull him off my policy and put him on his policy since it will be cheaper. But if I want to switch to his policy later (open season), can I do that? I have recently been diagnosed with a rare disease so I want to make sure that won't screw me with having to pass a medical questionnaire (I know Obamacare might prevent this, but its a small company so want to make sure)

thanks! :-)

Pre-existing problems are no longer an issue, but if you have a rare problem that few doctors can handle, you really want to make sure that his insurance will have your doctors on the plan.  Even if his plan is costing you less, you may be paying as much or more in OOP costs to go to the person who can treat your problem.

[starryfish]

Thanks all. We are going to keep us both on my insurance :-)