All blog posts from Dr. Allott are provided for educational and informational purposes only. As Dr. Allott is also a licensed medical practitioner, we must make it clear that nothing on the blog is intended to constitute medical advice, consultation, recommendation, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are concerned about your health, please seek appropriate care in your area.

Helping those we connect with find health insurance

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Having health insurance in the time of a pandemic is important. Kaiser Family Foundations estimates that 26.8 million workers and dependents might lose their employer health insurance. It may not be the first thing you ask about when someone has just lost their job. It may not be the first thing they think about. But having health insurance can be life-saving.

Before COVID, I helped a lot of people navigate the maze of finding health insurance. Some people don't try because they thought that it will be too expensive. Others don't because they are overwhelmed and don't want to think about it.

If a person has become unemployed, it’s helpful to act quickly. First, you don't want to have a gap in insurance and get COVID or have some other health event without insurance. Second, going from employed to unemployed might qualify them for health insurance with little or no cost. This might only last until the next enrollment period (next November 1st to December 15th), but it’s a start. 

What makes a big difference is having someone sit with you and walk through the process, so I wanted to offer some steps to get started. 

(1) If they have financial resources, COBRA might be possible. This will be the same policy that the employer was offering. It’s worth talking to their HR department of the company that was providing insurance. 

(2) If the person does not have a lot of resources, having you or someone else work through the steps to get health insurance in your state can be extremely helpful. 

  • Find out if the person’s state has the Affordable Care Act insurance. 

  • Find where to look for the person’s state. HealthCare.gov has a lot of good information, and a page that directs you to the appropriate website for your state. 

  • Find out if that state has reopened enrollment. NPR reported about some states that have reopened their health insurance exchanges to help ease consumers' concerns about the cost of health care so that the sick will not be deterred from seeking medical attention. 

  • When you get a list potential insurance plans, learn and compare the deductibles, premiums, co-pays, out of pocket expense limits. You may also want to review what these terms mean.

  • If the person already has a health care providers(s) that they like, check to see if the provider(s) are covered under one of the possible plans. Most people reading this are interested in mental health. If the person you are helping might need a mental health therapist, see if you can find a therapist in their area on the insurance plan. 

Here are a few other resources: