Keeping insurance after employment ends

Several months ago I was downsized from a fortune 500 company after working there for over a decade. They treated me well, and there are no hard feelings, I got a good package.

My prior employer was nice enough to extend to me health insurance benefits (at the employee rate)

for 3 years, or until I take a new job that offers health insurance, (even if I do not take the new

employers health insurance.) My family has been on my health insurance for a long time and we'd

really like to stay on it, with our current providers, etc.

I am about to start a new job, that is, at first a w-2 contractor with benefits and will, after

working for about a year, most likely convert to an employee for the new company. The new company

has great benefits. At that point I won't mind converting. But during this 1 year period I'd

really like to stay on my old x-employer's benefits.

Question: What is the likelihood that my x-employer will be able to find out I've been offered health

insurance and turned it down? The contracting company is asking me to either join their health insurance or prove I am already insured. If I provide proof of insurance to them would they check something that would alert my x-employer or insurance company?

Another possibility is to just purchase insurance from this company, for myself only, and never use it,

(for one person it looks relatively cheap, but useless). If I do that I won't have to prove I am

already insured and therefore maybe it would be less likely to get back to my current insurer/x-employer.

Is it legal to have two insurance policies as long as you're not collecting on both?
Any other thoughts on how to keep this benefit for this 1 year?

submitted by /u/ta_ins_8008
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