If you're lucky enough to work for a firm that offers generous health insurance benefits, especially if your employer is not required to provide COBRA health insurance, you're forgiven if you've delayed looking for a more interesting job or ruled out working for yourself. Fear of parting with employer-sponsored health insurance is legitimate, given the steady decline in the number of companies that offer it and the high cost of paying for coverage yourself.
According to a 2007 report by the Committee for Economic Development, the U.S. employer-sponsored health insurance system is failing. Exorbitant premiums have led to waiting periods imposed on new hires and minimum work-hour rules to qualify employees for coverage. Research published by the Economic Policy Institute in late 2007 shows that only 59.7 percent of Americans still get their health insurance through their employers, with the number of firms offering coverage down 4.5 percent since 2000. So, what's a nation of highly mobile, ladder-climbing professionals to do when it's time to clear out their desks?
COBRA
As long as you are not terminated for gross misconduct, you and yours are eligible under COBRA health insurance for continued coverage for up to 18 additional months. That's good news, because it may take that long to find a comparable job. The bad news is that the continued coverage usually costs a lot more because your employer isn't paying for any part of it. To opt for COBRA benefits you don't have to contact anyone. It's up to your former employer to notify the insurance company of your status within 30 days of your departure, after which they have 14 days to offer you continued coverage, which you have 60 days to accept or decline. COBRA benefits are mandatory at companies with 20 or more employees and you don't even have to leave your job to qualify for them. A reduction in hours leading to a loss of coverage is also considered a qualifying event. If COBRA isn't an option for you, consider trying to convert the group plan you were in to an individual policy.
HIPAA
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was designed with our job-hopping lifestyles in mind. Thanks to HIPAA, if you were enrolled in your last employer's health insurance plan for at least 12 months without a lapse in coverage lasting more than 62 consecutive days, your new insurer can't apply "pre-existing condition" exclusions to you, your spouse, or anyone else who was covered under your last plan. Sadly, this rule directly contributes to today's high deductibles and co-payments. By prohibiting insurance companies from rejecting those with pre-existing conditions, HIPAA causes employers to pass along the higher expense to workers. On the bright side, you don't have to worry if your spouse and children were covered by your old plan, but aren't eligible under the new one. HIPAA mandates immediate special enrollment for them through your spouse's employer's plan, assuming there is one.
Other options
If you do nothing else, get interim or short-term health insurance. Not only is it risky, health-wise and financially, to go without coverage, but the protections conferred by HIPAA expire after 63 days without insurance and you don't want that to happen. The protection is worth keeping. If you can't afford an individual health insurance plan of any duration, check with your state insurance department about subsidized programs.
Jobs With Health Insurance
Residents of Texas -- particularly in the big cities of Dallas, Houston and Austin -- and especially those with skills in demand, may be among the most marketable employees in the country. Yet, for some, moving to another job gives cause for pause, for reasons that may be unrelated to the job they're eyeing.
Rather, it has to do with benefits in general, and specifically health insurance benefits. With health insurance costs rising at a rate that's forcing small companies to limit or even eliminate their employer-provided health care insurance altogether, workers dissatisfied with one job may be reluctant to make the switch if the place they're jumping to doesn't provide a soft landing.
How serious a problem is it? While the magnitude of this stifling of mobility may be difficult to ascertain, a survey by Hewitt Associates, an HR consultancy, identified health care coverage as the most important benefit, bigger by a two-to-one factor than compensation. The survey also underscored the issue of health care coverage in the decision-making process, with two out of three saying coverage was a primary factor.
There's hope for those who are concerned, but recruiters also say those who are looking for new opportunities would do well to polish up their resume. Here's some of their best resume tips:
- Make it perfect: Recruiters expect a resume to be grammatically perfect, the implication being that someone who hasn't taken the time to polish the document may treat their work with the same degree of precision.
- Be specific: The objective is to communicate what the prospective employee has accomplished. The choice may be between someone who has "worked with employees in a restaurant setting" and someone who has "recruited, hired, trained and supervised more than 20 employees in a restaurant with $2 million in annual sales.".
- Customize for the job being sought: Recruiters aren't as likely to single out a resume designed to appeal to all employers as they are one that's written specifically for them. It's more work, but employers expect a prospective employee to clearly show how and why they fit the position.
- Outline what you've accomplished: Employers care more about what someone has accomplished than they do about the job description included. Adding statements that reflect the accomplishments achieved in your various positions.
- Not too long or short: There are no hard-and-fast rules governing the length of a resume, but often commonsense rules. Would you want to read a five-page resume? Maybe, if the requirements were very specific or under exceptional circumstances, but if two pages will tell the story, that may be "just right."
- It's not "all about you": Your objective statement should be both specific and, more importantly, speak to the interests of the prospective employer, not just what's in it for you.
- Action!: Using action verbs will help bring a resume to life.
- Is something missing?: Some job seekers may be tempted to leave out jobs that simply earned money during school. Recruiters say the soft skills gained from these experiences (e.g., work ethic, time management) may be more important to employers than once thought.
- Simple is better: A resume that's wall-to-wall text featuring five different fonts is more likely to distract or annoy than top impress. If it's hard on the eyes, revise.
- Check again: Simple things like having the correct contact information is vital to the effectiveness of a resume. Double-check everything.
Ready to move into a new job? Considering individual health insurance instead of a new employer's group plan may be a more cost-effective option.
Both Ryan Patterson & Pat Carpenter are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Ryan Patterson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Auto Insurance, Medical Insurance and Auto Insurance. Ryan Patterson is president of US Insurance Online based in Austin, TX. He graduated in 2000 from the University of Texas with a combined business and computer science degree, and started the company in May of 2005 with fellow entrepreneur Jim Waltrip. Th. Ryan Patterson's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.
Pat Carpenter has sinced written about articles on various topics from Women, Marathon Tips and Insurance. Pat Carpenter writes for Precedent Insurance Company. Precedent puts a new spin on health insurance. Learn more at . Pat Carpenter's top article generates over 823000 views. to your Favourites.
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