Advice needed – Electing COBRA for 2 months vs going on husband’s plan now as qualifying event?
Hi, I’m hoping to get advice on my current situation. Unfortunately, I was recently laid off last week. I’m currently 7 months pregnant and due 10/31. Just to be clear, I was not laid off because of my pregnancy and this was part of another round of layoffs/RIF due to restructuring, etc. I was significantly relying on 12 weeks of paid maternity leave but know there isn’t really anything I can do and it’s just unfortunate timing.
My insurance will end 8/31 and initially I was planning to go on my husband’s plan effective 9/1 as a qualifying event due to loss of coverage. My former employer is also offering to contribute towards COBRA through the end of October, if I decide to elect. In that case, I’d still be responsible for what I was contributing bi-weekly during my employment but this would still save me some money for those 2 months. However, I’m concerned that if I do elect COBRA now, once my former employer stops contributing after October, I won’t be able to enroll on my husbands plan effective 11/1 since I’d be voluntarily terminating COBRA which I don’t think is considered a qualifying event. Due to this factor, I’m leaning more towards just going on my husband’s plan 9/1 to avoid any issues later.
I know that birth is also considered a qualifying event so it’s possible that my baby and I can both be added to my husband’s plan on the DOB but I don’t want to rely on the timing of that working out since due dates can be unpredictable. For example, if our baby isn’t born until November, I’d basically need to pay the full COBRA premium for that month to avoid a lapse in my coverage. I’m also not sure how it all works with birth as a qualifying event and my husband and I will try to get more details from his insurance company soon.
Also, my current insurance is a Cigna PPO plan and my husband’s insurance that I would be switching to is a Blue Shield PPO plan. Just in case that helps or makes a difference at all. Both my current insurance plan and my husbands plan appear to be in-network with my OB & hospital so that’s not a huge concern, at least for now.
I would appreciate any advice, recommendations and insight! If anyone has been in a similar situation, can you please share how this worked out for you? Thanks in advance!