(if you find yourself not working by then, that is). here's the deal--it's almost certainly the cheapest coverage you will find and gaps in coverage make for more trouble. if you keep COBRA for a long time and your eligibility ends then you sign up for Cal-COBRA (which lasts for a further 18 months), and then you qualify for HIPAA coverage (all at approximately the same rate as the COBRA coverage).
if you let coverage lapse then you have two options: privately-underwritten coverage (in which you will surely pay more money for fewer covered services) ... and if you get rejected for a historical or pre-existing condition, your last resort is the state insurance of last resort (basically, this is a minimal coverage for a *lot* of money).
insurance shopping of any sort sucks, though, for all the reasons you called out. my homeowner's insurance is through CSAA and lately i shopped around for other options and pricing was just ridiculous. (yes, i don't drive, but i belong to CSAA just for the insurance and occasional hotel discounting. if you ever drive in a crappy car with me the AAA will come and rescue us all!)
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get COBRA
Date: 2007-10-17 09:27 pm (UTC)if you let coverage lapse then you have two options: privately-underwritten coverage (in which you will surely pay more money for fewer covered services) ... and if you get rejected for a historical or pre-existing condition, your last resort is the state insurance of last resort (basically, this is a minimal coverage for a *lot* of money).
insurance shopping of any sort sucks, though, for all the reasons you called out. my homeowner's insurance is through CSAA and lately i shopped around for other options and pricing was just ridiculous. (yes, i don't drive, but i belong to CSAA just for the insurance and occasional hotel discounting. if you ever drive in a crappy car with me the AAA will come and rescue us all!)