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Topic: Quitting job before moving to UK, obamacare?  (Read 1798 times)

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Quitting job before moving to UK, obamacare?
« on: May 08, 2014, 03:01:07 AM »
We plan on quitting our US jobs 2 weeks before we fly over to England to live. (I'll be on a settlement visa, wife is UK citizen and permanent resident of US). With the new affordable care act (Obamacare) rules in effect, do I need to purchase COBRA for two weeks or another plan on the marketplace? Is there no grace period that we can go without insurance so we don't get penalized on out taxes?

Thanks!


Re: Quitting job before moving to UK, obamacare?
« Reply #1 on: May 08, 2014, 08:16:01 AM »
Check when you make your healthcare contribution to calculate your length of coverage. When I left my job in the US my healthcare didn't expire until 2.5 weeks later  as I was paid twice a month in arrears and received a pay check, from which I made a healthcare contribution. This might be a solution?

Sorry I don't know anything about the current Cobra system or Obamacare.

I wouldn't quit a job and not have healthcare, my daughter caught meningitis when she was covered by Cobra after ageing out of my company plan, and before she was covered  by her own post graduate employment. If she had not had coverage the bills would have been in the tens of thousands of dollars, as it was we paid $0 for her hospital admission, diagnosis and treatment. Cobra was expensive but in our case saved us huge bills.


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Re: Quitting job before moving to UK, obamacare?
« Reply #2 on: August 21, 2014, 05:30:59 PM »
For this year, at least, there is no penalty if you are un-insured for up to 3 months of the calendar year. I do not know how all this will affect you depending on when you are leaving. You should speak with a tax advisor about that. But if its only 2 weeks before you are in the UK, you should consider just going without. COBRA is the most expensive piece of crap I have ever heard of. Even if you ended up with a penalty on your taxes, the $95 is way less than you'd pay for COBRA for even 2 weeks.
Engaged: June 2014
Married: July 30 2014
Visa Application Received in UK: Nov. 27 2014
Visa granted: Dec 12 2014
Moves to UK: Jan 30th 2015


Re: Quitting job before moving to UK, obamacare?
« Reply #3 on: August 21, 2014, 06:23:52 PM »
Unless Cobra has changed you don't even get the sign up paperwork until 60 days after your employer provided healthcare ends. So someone who has 2 weeks of no coverage can decline Cobra at the 60 day mark, or accept if they have had major bills.


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