COWBRA Insurance

One of our members writes:

“I got a letter Monday from Individual Billing Administration. It sounds like some federal deal, but actually it’s a COWBRA plan administrator that handles COWBRA health insurance for people who have recently become unemployed. When such a situation occurs, the ex-employee has two options — take the company offered insurance plan or sign up for COWBRA.

I called Individual Billing just to see if it was some insurance scam and was told they were a third-party administrator for COWBRA. She said I could disregard the letter since I have retired and chosen to continue with Cox’s plan with Aetna. I don’t know, however, if those who didn’t retire have a choice of COWBRA administrators other than Individual Billing, but I would suggest that people check with their HR departments first.”

For those looking for insurance other than COWBRA, we have heard that there are several much cheaper options: Sam’s Club and Costco, for instance, offer insurance.

For those who don’t want to really “work” yet — or don’t want to stay in journalism, Starbuck’s used to offer benefits even to part-time employees. Yes, they’re closing stores, too, but we thought they were worth a mention. Whole Foods Market pays 100 percent of their workers’ health care, by the way.