People considering filing a disability claim often have a ton of Social Security questions about Medicare and what kind of health insurance they can get.
The problem, as any Social Security Disability attorney can tell you, is that disabled individuals are often left uncovered due to the excessive waiting periods to get on government programs. For Medicare, there’s a 24-month waiting period but that’s not the end. You also have a 5-month wait for Social Security Disability Insurance. That’s just under two and a half years without health insurance!
How can someone make sure that they are covered during this time? Unfortunately, options are extremely limited.
COBRA Bridges the Medicare Gap… Sometimes
The obvious answer would seem to be that the disabled individual needs to utilize COBRA after disability causes him or her to quit or lose a job. After all, that is the point of COBRA, right?
But what many people don’t realize is that COBRA is only designed to last for 18 months—11 months less than the waiting periods for people trying to get SSDI and Medicare. How can they survive for nearly a year without any health insurance? Is there some kind of way to keep COBRA going?
The short answer is yes but, again, it’s far more complicated than that. A person can extend their COBRA coverage until they get on Medicare and SSDI, but only if they win their claim within the initial 18-month COBRA period. With the long wait times for many disability claims, many cases take longer than this.
And even if you win within the time frame, Social Security has to agree that you were disabled within 60 days of the event you used to get your COBRA coverage, and your insurer has to be notified that you won your claim within 60 days of the decision. There are so many moving parts that you probably need a Social Security Disability attorney just to keep up with it all.
For a free legal consultation, call 800-562-9830
Where Does the Money Come From?
Of course, what all of this still fails to address is the fact that COBRA is incredibly expensive. Many people are surprised to find themselves paying for plans that cost $500 per month—or more. And if you manage to get COBRA extended beyond the original 18 months, your insurer is allowed to charge you 150% of the premium during this time. COBRA may be a solution but it can’t be the only one for a lot of people, because too many just can’t afford it.
Contact Marc Whitehead if you have more Social Security questions you’d like answered. Be sure to check out our free e-book, The Social Security Disability Puzzle.
Call or text 800-562-9830 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
