Hi there! I looked in the sub for similar posts, and while I think I may know what people here will recommend, mine is a little different from what I found, so I wanted to make my own post.
I am part of a union, and have health coverage through MPIHP (Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans, which is “trust funds established by collective bargaining agreements between many of the unions and employers in the motion picture production industry.”). Effectively, as long as I work enough hours in each qualifying period, I have v. good insurance and I do not pay a monthly premium. Since I joined the union, I have maintained coverage, but due to being unemployed for almost a year, I will be losing my coverage on 4/30. I am expecting a job offer to come in today or tomorrow (which is very exciting after nearly a year of fighting with the government about unemployment insurance). If it does, I will start on 3/1, and I will earn enough hours to resume my coverage starting 7/1 (pending any weird disasters).
That leaves me with an uninsured period of two months (May and June). As I understand it, I will not pay a penalty for not having insurance for that period (either Federal or California, due to the relatively small length of time). I was originally planning to apply for Covered California, even though that’s a headache and a half, and then trying to transition back to my MPI plan 2 months later. Now that I’ve learned a bit more about the gap / COBRA coverage, it seems like it would potentially be smarter to try the “bridge strategy” and hope nothing happens to me in that period of time, but retroactively pay for COBRA if it does. I’m not concerned with the cost of insurance through Covered California (as I would qualify for significant government assistance, even with the job), but I am concerned with how overloaded and full of issues the system is – I don’t want to spend the two months fighting with them and have a harder transition back to my union insurance at the end of the two months.
The other posts I’ve seen discussing this have specifically discussed employer-paid plans (which this effectively is, but through a separate organization), and I’m not sure if this is more complicated / has different rules (or how to work out how much my COBRA costs would be). I did speak to someone at MPI today, but she was unhelpful to say the least (basically said I had to call Covered CA and ask them and that this whole thing “could have been avoided…” By what exactly? Me conjuring a job in an industry that was almost fully shut down for 7 months? Ugh.) I know I’ll still need to call a bunch of people, but I wanted to see if anyone here had advice before I go down any of these paths. Thank you!
Details: I’m a 28 year old F with no serious pre-existing conditions / no prescriptions, and I have no plans to use my health insurance unless there is an emergency.
submitted by /u/tastyraccoons
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Hi there! I looked in the sub for similar posts, and while I think I may know what people here will recommend, mine is a little different from what I found, so I wanted to make my own post. I am part of a union, and have health coverage through MPIHP (Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans, which is “trust funds established by collective bargaining agreements between many of the unions and employers in the motion picture production industry.”). Effectively, as long as I work enough hours in each qualifying period, I have v. good insurance and I do not pay a monthly premium. Since I joined the union, I have maintained coverage, but due to being unemployed for almost a year, I will be losing my coverage on 4/30. I am expecting a job offer to come in today or tomorrow (which is very exciting after nearly a year of fighting with the government about unemployment insurance). If it does, I will start on 3/1, and I will earn enough hours to resume my coverage starting 7/1 (pending any weird disasters). That leaves me with an uninsured period of two months (May and June). As I understand it, I will not pay a penalty for not having insurance for that period (either Federal or California, due to the relatively small length of time). I was originally planning to apply for Covered California, even though that’s a headache and a half, and then trying to transition back to my MPI plan 2 months later. Now that I’ve learned a bit more about the gap / COBRA coverage, it seems like it would potentially be smarter to try the “bridge strategy” and hope nothing happens to me in that period of time, but retroactively pay for COBRA if it does. I’m not concerned with the cost of insurance through Covered California (as I would qualify for significant government assistance, even with the job), but I am concerned with how overloaded and full of issues the system is – I don’t want to spend the two months fighting with them and have a harder transition back to my union insurance at the end of the two months. The other posts I’ve seen discussing this have specifically discussed employer-paid plans (which this effectively is, but through a separate organization), and I’m not sure if this is more complicated / has different rules (or how to work out how much my COBRA costs would be). I did speak to someone at MPI today, but she was unhelpful to say the least (basically said I had to call Covered CA and ask them and that this whole thing “could have been avoided…” By what exactly? Me conjuring a job in an industry that was almost fully shut down for 7 months? Ugh.) I know I’ll still need to call a bunch of people, but I wanted to see if anyone here had advice before I go down any of these paths. Thank you! Details: I’m a 28 year old F with no serious pre-existing conditions / no prescriptions, and I have no plans to use my health insurance unless there is an emergency.
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