Thread regarding Cigna layoffs

I began subbing after my layoff. Kelly Services is a national employer of substitute teachers. You have to work 20 hours minimum (not per week - total ) to be eligible for benefits. If available to you, I hope this helps.

You can enroll in a plan any time of year if you lose coverage. You don't have to wait til the fall for "official" enrollment time. If you're pretty healthy, call a broker who can shop for coverage for you outside of the exchange. You'll have to go through underwriting, which can take a few weeks, but if you get through it, it saves a few hundred dollars a month. Skip dental coverage and just tell your dentist you are paying cash. My dentist now offers a membership that includes two cleanings, x-rays, and a discount on any needed services. No coverage is likely to cost what you pay in an employer plan, but it also isn't as high as Cobra.

https://share.google/aimode/KK19KNAXRY4YBCVF9

Link to NAFC
National Association of Free Clinics
Saw this and one other thing to reduce or eliminate medical bills...getting that link.

Get Relief from Hospital Bills – Dollar For https://share.google/TsNjNLSqlfw4wF1UD

Sorry, I don't have any useful advice.

It's really messed up that Cigna put you in this situation. We're a health insurance company for crying out loud, why tf aren't we extending people's Cigna health insurance when we JE them?!

Of course, it's also messed up that we have a bunch of contractors, or co-employees I would argue, who have no health insurance. (Or did until we fired them all, [I'm sorry, "ended their contracts"], to replace them with cheaper foreign labor.)

@OP If you are relatively healthy, look into something that you could use for catastrophic coverage, for example, Christian Healthcare Ministries. It's on the marketplace, but they also have their own website (be sure not to pull up a copycat company). It doesn't cover everything, but if you end up in the ER, needing surgery, or some other expensive situation, it will cover it. I used it between a RIF and going on Medicare. Worked great for me.

@e3 COBRA is too expensive for me so I'm forgoing it. It eats into my rent.

@eb Ok now you're just trolling. How do i not get it? What the f are you even talking about. There are recommendations to cut your own hair early in this thread - how is that addressing the COBRA / medical insurance discussion?

@e3

You're still not getting it.

Best of luck to you.

@e0 i appreciate the serious response then.

I'm awake, but more and more realizing how brutal a layoff at this time is for those impacted.

I have not seen any recommendations to divorce your spouse on paper, i see no mentions of strictly controlling income to get better rates on healthcare.gov marketplace.

I realize it's all situational - I am being reminded over and over after this layoff of the lack of viable options.

Still looking to continue this discussion - are people impacted taking COBRA and cancelling prior or how are you handling that?

@cn

These are very helpful, realistic, and totally serious solutions.

Seems as though you're the one whose head is in the clouds, if you can't see things for what they truly are.
Look around. Get a clue. Note the financial situation of society at large.
Sh!t's hittin' the fan, and you'll either figure out how to bob and weave your way around it, or not.

@cn consider moving to a low cost country for retirement life?

@aa “You can also go to dental schools if you need dental help, which is either free or very inexpensive.” Good advice! Any schools with dental program need patients for their students. I was there many years ago when I was in school.

any helpful solutions? feel like these are only halfway serious

@aa Also want to mention that many places with good providers actually have you paying less as copay out of pocket than when you were covered at the company regarding dental and vision.

Just skip it.
Health insurance is a scam.

As a country, we need to push harder for better health coverage. Vote for those who support subsidies or universal health care or Medicare for all. There's no reason we should have billions/trillions of tax dollars spent on everything but the people who pay the taxes. Let's focus on our funding out own health, food, environment, and rights from now on!

Remember you also don’t have to pay for Cobra during the grace period and it will backdate if you run into a problem- hospitals will often pay to “catch it up” especially if the hospital is “not for profit”.

If you're in good health, and even better if on no meds, then just go without coverage, until you land your next job which offers health insurance through them.

Yes, it's a bit of a gamble, but really the most practical option, considering the situation.
If worse comes to worst and you need emergency treatment at a hospital, you can later go through their social worker (every hospital has one) to arrange for a deferred or a monthly payment plan which fits your finances.

Lots of dentists offer payment plans, too. You can also go to dental schools if you need dental help, which is either free or very inexpensive. Same goes for haircuts at beauty schools...or learn to cut your own hair at home via YT vids.

When unemployed, it's the time for cutting back on spending, saving whatever you can, and finding alternative options by taking some calculated risks; rather than just blindly throwing your money away because "that's the way it's always been done."

I'm humble and the only one supporting myself and I'm on Medicaid now.