If you have left the service and your job search is taking longer than expected, how do you get health insurance that will not cost an arm and a leg? Along with finding a job, finding health insurance while unemployed can be a challenging task. Health care coverage during the gap between your military service and your next civilian job is essential. You probably will only need a few weeks or a month until your new employer’s benefits kick in, but you cannot go without some form of health insurance. You should take some time and search health care options and plans in advance of your service departure date.
Health Insurance Options to Consider
There are significant number of options with a variety of associated expenses. Let’s take a look at some of the options and their differences.
1. TRICARE TAMP
Transitional Assistance Management Program (TAMP) is a TRICARE health insurance plan similar to what you had in the military. This is a great program if you are eligible; but eligibility is limited. TAMP provides up to 180 days of premium-free healthcare coverage, if you fit into a limited number categories. These categories and more information on TAMP can be found at https://www.tricare.mil/tamp.
2. TRICARE CHCBP
If you are not eligible for TAMP, you may be eligible for Continued Health Care Benefit Program (CHCBP) administrated for TRICARE by Humana Military. This program gives you temporary health coverage up to 18 or 36 months, depending on your eligibility category. The challenge is that this CHCBP is expensive. The cost for a single male is $1599 per quarter and over $3600 per family. In addition to the premium, you will pay deductibles (the amount you pay before your insurance plan starts to pay) and co-pays.
The biggest challenge with using CHCBP is that you must pay for a full quarter at a time. If you find a job in a matter of a couple of weeks, you CANNOT request a refund of any portion of the quarterly pre-payment. For more information, go to https://tricare.mil/CHCBP.
3. Affordable Care Act (ACA) Insurance Plans
If you go to www.healthcare.gov, within a few clicks you can review ACA plans. A single male, 28 years old is eligible for a variety of plans starting at $100 and go up to$650 per month. Obviously, more expensive plans have less deductibles, out-of-pocket expenses, and co-payments. For example, there are currently are a couple of catastrophic plan options around $240 with an $8500 deductible. This may be a good way to go if you need a plan to cover you for an accident for a few months.
4. Short-Term Medical Insurance Through a PPO
Another option is to obtain short-term care medical insurance directly through a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), such as United Healthcare or CIGNA. A PPO can provide options that are comparably less expensive than the ACA plans. You find these options by shopping and comparing the plans, pricing, coverages, deductibles, and benefits on the PPO’s website. The short-term medical insurance plans are generally available with monthly payments and can be stopped at any time, with 30 days’ notice. By way of example, a short-term medical plan for a 28-year-old single male, with a $5000 deductible can be found for as little as $75 per month. These plans are generally for one year or less and may be a good fit for your gap situation if you are looking for catastrophic insurance.
Research Plans Before You Need Them
Bottom line, you can save a lot of money if you research health insurance options before you get out of the service. Put some extra cash aside for health insurance in case your job hunt takes a little longer than expected. There is no need to have a health insurance lapse during an unexpected job gap!
