NGKUR: Job stuff

[ironbaby]

Long post, sorry!

H just accepted a new job (YAY!) that will begin on Jan 4 (Monday). His new employer is being rather amazing and backdating his paperwork to show employment on Jan 1 so that our insurance benefits will be effective Feb 1 (30 days waiting required).

H's current employer also offers benefits, and he'd have to be employed on the 1st day of the month to receive benefits for the remainder of that calendar month. In other words, he needs to be employed Jan 1 to receive benefits for January.

The catch? Jan 1 is New Year's Day, which is a paid holiday for his current employer. Jan 1 is also a Friday. H would like to give 2 weeks' notice, with his official "last day" on Jan 1. The concern is that if he gives notice, they will terminate his employment Dec 31, thus we'd be OOP for insurance in January. His company rather enjoys being a dick whenever possible, so they may terminate him early and/or simply not assign him jobs the last two weeks (he is hourly based on what jobs they assign).

So, questions:
1) Are we required to purchase insurance for January (according to the ACA) or is a one-month lapse allowable?
2) What should he do about giving notice?

[spicysalmonroll]

I don't know what the ACA is...but I do taxes in MA and here you can go 3 consecutive months without insurance before you see a penalty. Not sure if that's what you're referring to.

Honestly, I'd see if there is ANY possible way the new employer would let him start on Tuesday, and have him work his last official day at the current job on Monday Jan 4th. That would be the best of both worlds, and they probably wouldn't put up a fight about starting one day later.

[ironbaby]

Dec 9, 2015 15:32:26 GMT -5 starbuck27 said:

YAYYYYY! I am so excited for your family!! This has been a long time coming.

We went through this with our job transition as well. They told us we would NOT incur a tax penalty for a 1 month lapse in coverage. I don't know at what point you would start to incur penalties, but, it seems like that won't be an issue.

Many health insurance companies do offer temporary plans that will cover you during those gaps. We paid $150 for coverage for one month to cover our gap. It's NOT Obamacare compliant, however it will take care of us in case of catastrophe.

By the way, when I quit my last job, the effective date I gave was the day after Thanksgiving, a paid holiday, and I was paid thru that day. So...it may be possible for employment to end on 1/1/16. Depends on how shitty his company will be.

Good to know your company paid you through a paid holiday.

I did find out that there is no penalty for being without insurance for up to 3 months. So that's a relief.

And THANK YOU. This has been a long-time coming. We are so excited about it. It will still involve a small degree of travel, but significantly less, and will be salary so they can't jerk him around about not sending him jobs.

[spicysalmonroll]

starbuck27, wow that's amazingly cheap! Usually COBRA to pay your own benefits for one month is upwards of $600!

[pinkcat]

No advice but I wanted to say congratulations to your DH, I know this has been a long time coming. Very happy for you both!

[ironbaby]

Dec 9, 2015 15:43:16 GMT -5 pinkcat said:

No advice but I wanted to say congratulations to your DH, I know this has been a long time coming. Very happy for you both!

Thanks so much!

[nuggetrn]

ironbaby YAY!!! YAY YAY YAY!!!!

I am so happy that your husband accepted this job and I so hope it works out for you!!

I found out that the penalty for being without insurance was only $325/year (I assumed divided by 12 x the number of months you were without insurance) and felt like we could swing that should we be penalized. So you bringing this up and finding out we won't be penalized for a gap shorter than 3 months is great news!

Good luck figuring all of this out

[rablissful]

So happy for you lady!

[notagoddess]

ironbaby, I'm thrilled for you and YH! I know his job has been a major source of stress and frustration for you guys. So happy he found something else!

[ameliabird]

I don't have any experience but wanted to say yay! And congrats to your family!

[LadyNymeria]

Dec 9, 2015 15:49:49 GMT -5 starbuck27 said:

Dec 9, 2015 15:36:33 GMT -5 spicysalmonroll said:

starbuck27 , wow that's amazingly cheap! Usually COBRA to pay your own benefits for one month is upwards of $600!

Ya COBRA for me was like $1200. We got bare minimum coverage. Basically, we won't go bankrupt in an emergency.

We went without coverage for a month between this job and my last one because they wanted $1200 for COBRA. They said that I didn't have to sign up but that if something happened the application would be back dated to the day I left my old job and we'd be covered anyway.

Congrats to YH ironbaby!!!

[wannabmama]

Congrats Mr. Ironbaby!! Great news!

[butlerfan]

Yeah at new job!!!!!.

You can go up to 3 months with no penalty so that is good. If H's current employee lays him off early you could do Cobra if need be. They do give you some time to decide on cobra so if you don't need the doctor that month I would not sign up for it since it is horribly expensive. If you do end up needing it-they will backdate Cobra to date of being let go.

[britta]

No advice but congrats ironbaby!! Good for you guys!

[mikaela20]

Congrats to you and DH ironbaby! How exciting and such a great way to start the new year.

Sorry , no experience or advice to give.

[thechickencoop]

Dec 9, 2015 16:31:17 GMT -5 LadyNymeria said:

Dec 9, 2015 15:49:49 GMT -5 starbuck27 said:

Ya COBRA for me was like $1200. We got bare minimum coverage. Basically, we won't go bankrupt in an emergency.

We went without coverage for a month between this job and my last one because they wanted $1200 for COBRA. They said that I didn't have to sign up but that if something happened the application would be back dated to the day I left my old job and we'd be covered anyway.

Congrats to YH ironbaby!!!

Yea this was similar to our COBRA cost too. H switched jobs a few years ago and COBRA would have been almost $1,300 a month. We ended up purchasing our own insurance and we took a risk with a high deductible plan and for a family of three ended up paying a little over 300 a month. Of course it was in that three-month window when DS had his febrile seizure and had an ER visit. But we still came out on top because the co pays and deductibles we spent on that we're actually less then the difference of what it would been if we had gone with the COBRA plan instead lol.

Of course this was all before the ACA so I have no idea if this is way out of whack.

Fuckin insurance.

[achromia]

It sounds like you're more or less squared away on the insurance front, so I just want to say congrats! It's super awesome that YH is getting a new, better employer!

[wanderingheart]

Grad creeping through....

We had the same situation with MH's job transfer. His started his new job in mid August, and his old job provided coverage until August 30th. But his new job wouldn't start coverage until 30 days from his hire date, which meant we spent September without any insurance coverage. We paid for everything at the RE out of pocket that month. It sucked, but we decided going without insurance and having to pay a lot more money was better than benching ourselves for a cycle.

COBRA was ridiculous too for the both of us. It made no sense to pay that much money for one month, especially since everything added up to slightly less than what COBRA would have cost us, even with three ultrasounds, one blood draw, an IUI, sperm wash...etc.

[ironbaby]

I didn't know you could back-date Cobra coverage. That is AWESOME!!

Thanks everyone for your well wishes and insight. H has decided to give his 2 weeks' notice and just see what happens. We will start fresh with the new year. We probably will elect not to pay for Cobra if they do terminate before Jan 1 and just be careful.

[ladytiffany24]

YAY Congrats to Mr. ironbaby!

I'm not expert on the insurance stuff but it sounds like you guys should be okay.

[TheEleventhHour]

I see the insurance stuff has been covered but I wanted to say congrats to YH on his new job! That is awesome!

[Deleted]

Dec 10, 2015 9:04:38 GMT -5 ironbaby said:

I didn't know you could back-date Cobra coverage. That is AWESOME!!

Thanks everyone for your well wishes and insight. H has decided to give his 2 weeks' notice and just see what happens. We will start fresh with the new year. We probably will elect not to pay for Cobra if they do terminate before Jan 1 and just be careful.

Hey,

I have done COBRA a few times. For me, it's cheaper than trying to pay out of pocket for my ridiculously expensive medication.

Yay for $800 a month medications.

Right now, I am on MH's COBRA while he was able to pick up minimum essential coverage through his new employer. I will be putting us both on my new employer's insurance once it becomes effective in February.

What it comes down to is determining if it is cheaper to pay out of pocket for medical costs or pay cobra for the short term. One other thing to consider is if you have insurance through your employer. His job change and subsequent loss of insurance would be considered a qualifying event for you to enroll in a plan.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.