Insurance Against Losing Your Health Insurance?
Golden Rule, a United HealthCare company, is offering a unique insurance product. The plan allows workers, who fear that they might get laid-off and subsequently lose their employer-sponsored health coverage, to pay a fee in order to be covered by a Golden Rule health insurance policy in case they lose their job and become uninsured.
The cost savings for the member would come into play when the monthly premiums required to be covered by Golden Rule would be substantially less than health coverage from COBRA.
For Example, COBRA replacement coverage for a husband and wife could cost $500-$800 per month, whereas similar coverage via the Golden Rule health plan would cost $385 per month once enrolled + $77 per month now for the right to access the plan later.
The plan is called UnitedHealth Continuity. It is currently available in 25 states, and over time, Golden Rule plans to make it available in all 40 states where they currently do business.
The cost savings seem pretty speculative unless you would expect to be on COBRA for several months. If you didn’t get laid off, you would be spending $77 a month for nothing, although I guess that is what insurance is all about….peace of mind.
