SAN ANGELO, Texas — Health insurance is important - especially during a pandemic - but what do you do when that same pandemic is the reason you lost your job, thus your health insurance?
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, between March 1 and May 2, 2020, more than 31 million people had filed for unemployment insurance across the country.
If you're someone who is jobless or lacking health insurance at the moment, these programs might work for you.
The first program you might look into is COBRA. If you worked for an employer with 20 employees or more, COBRA provides a continuation of your coverage, with the same plan you had when you were employed. However, COBRA does require individuals to pay their full monthly premium, and that's without an employer chipping in to make it more affordable.
The next plan you might consider is the Affordable Care Act (ACA). With the ACA, losing health insurance that you had through your job is considered a "qualifying event" to enroll, meaning you can apply and enroll at any time. You can go to healthcare.gov or your state-run exchange and shop for a new plan. People who lose workplace insurance generally have 60 days from when their coverage ended to apply for an ACA plan.
When you apply for the ACA, you will automatically find out if you qualify for Medicaid, the national health insurance program for low-income people. Medicaid enrollment takes place year-round and is based on monthly income, not annual income.
It's essentially free for people who are eligible. In order to be eligible, your income is compared to the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Incomes that exceed 400% of the FPL do not qualify for Medicaid.
For example, the 2019 FPL (which is used for 2020 standards) was $12,760 for individuals. If you multiply $12,760 by 400%, you get $51,060, meaning, $51,060 is the maximum level of income an individual may earn in order to qualify for Medicaid.