Getting a good health coverage plan for yourself is very important because good healthcare should be part and parcel of every modern man’s life. So, this means that, regardless of race, sex, and or financial status, everyone should have access to the best quality of health services available. In this article, we will discuss all health insurance for unemployed citizens.
There’s no better way to ensure quality healthcare than to insure your health. This is quite tricky, as many factors are involved.
Nevertheless, with good medical coverage quality healthcare is accessible at a very affordable cost.
Health insurance in California for unemployed residents is so broad that there are various plans for different categories of individuals yet, one thing is almost always compulsory; your monthly premiums.
Most health coverage plans require that you pay a certain amount every month as monthly premiums. This is more like paying for health services in advance, but since your monthly premiums will not be as expensive as your accumulated healthcare expenses,
It helps you to economize and saves more money. If you’re unable to pay your monthly premiums, you might not have access to intended services and in some cases, the little you’ve paid might be refunded.
Notwithstanding, although health coverage greatly subsidizes our health expenses, you still have a certain amount to pay for health coverage. This makes it more difficult for low-income earners and the unemployed to get health insurance unemployment coverage.
The low-income earners could go for cheaper health plans if their health demand is not too high or seek better subsidies.
This is similar for the unemployed but more complicated because if you’re not working, you might not be able to cover even the cheapest plan’s premium.
Also, some health coverage plans require that you’re employed, so even if you’ve got the funds to cover the health premiums, your unemployment status might be a hindrance to getting the plan of your choice.
Either way, as regards health coverage, the unemployed find it difficult and sometimes impossible to get a suitable health plan because of the various requirements and lack of orientation.
But, should anyone give up on quality healthcare because they’re unemployed?
Well, not at all! Of course not, the government and various healthcare providers, over the years, have tried to make healthcare insurance accessible to all.
The government does this by creating certain pathways and ensuring that even the jobless can get quality healthcare.
In this article, we’d talk about how possible and affordable it is for you to get unemployment health insurance coverage if you’re unemployed and how you can access these plans.
Getting Health Insurance for Unemployed Citizens
One thing about the modern healthcare insurance scheme is its versatility. Different individuals have different health needs, financial statuses, and requirements.
And knowing this, healthcare insurance has been made accessible by healthcare insurance companies by creating different plan categories and schemes for different individuals.
Most people ask, “is there a healthcare insurance plan for the unemployed?” Well, it’s quite tricky to answer this but, if it makes you feel any better, there’s always a way around it and there might just be a plan for your unemployment status.
Also, although there are plans that might suit your unemployed status, these plans have other requirements aside from being unemployed.
So, the reason you’ve not qualified for a health plan might not be just because you’re unemployed but because you didn’t meet up with the requirements for your unemployed plan category.
One of the major considerations while getting a plan for an unemployed person is the cost-effectiveness and how cheap the plan is. Also, sometimes unemployed people seek free healthcare insurance plans, depending on how bad their financial status is.
Nevertheless, it is important to note the many other factors involved in healthcare insurance plans when looking for an unemployed health plan.
Your net worth or financial strength will always determine the category of unemployment health insurance plan you’d get. The more money you have, the more expensive the plan will be.
There are different categories of plans that might suit your unemployed status. However, you should ensure that your option should be an ACA-like cost-effective plan that would greatly reduce your health expenses depending on your financial status.
For example, a newly unemployed person can choose a very cheap Bronze plan that’d cost about $50 which the person would have to pay every month. That’s assuming the individual has been able to save up to about $40,000 for the year.
Getting a cheap Affordable Care Act plan would help you economize and balance yourself until you’re able to get another job.
The Affordable Care Act plans are accessible but quite expensive and will be very suitable for unemployed individuals with enough funds as reserves to pay for insurance.
Notwithstanding, Medicaid can also offer coverage for unemployed people. This healthcare insurance coverage is quite cheaper and more affordable but it has its requirements.
For instance, to qualify for a Medicaid plan, your yearly individual income should not be above $19,000. Also, it is very difficult to get a Medicaid plan if you just lost your job because your income before you lost your job will be counted.
Also, if your spouse is employed, it’d be difficult, Medicaid counts all income sources to ensure that their beneficiaries are those who need it.
You should study healthcare insurance plans well before you purchase plans. For instance, some short-term healthcare insurance plans have very cheap and affordable monthly premiums but their coverage is really poor.
For most of these plans, you’d have to pay more for deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses. Paying expensive deductibles defeats the idea of a cost-effective plan as you’d end up spending the money you wanted to save, especially if you have a constant need for health Services.
However, if you’re very healthy and young, you can go for these extremely cheap plans that offer minimal coverage.
Are There Free Health Insurance for Unemployed?
Unemployment comes with a lot of financial difficulties especially when you’ve been unemployed for a long time. Because when you’re unemployed, you would most likely be spending the money you have without making any.
Losing one’s job or not even having any at all affects our health adversely. This is because, although you’re not making any money, you’d still have to spend on so many other things like shelter, feeding, and health.
All these are considered priorities and getting the right balance is difficult. The strain on financial commitments brought about by unemployment makes it somewhat impossible for the unemployed to get good healthcare insurance. And so the best, most suitable option is getting free healthcare coverage.
Most people ask the question “Can I get free healthcare coverage if I’m unemployed?” Well, the answer is “If you meet the requirements, why not?”
There are several discounted and free plans available for unemployed individuals. These plans, however, have their requirements that must be met before the plan is issued.
So, rather than asking if there is a free healthcare coverage plan for the unemployed, your question should be “What are the free healthcare coverage plans that my unemployed status can qualify for?”
This is because there are various free or greatly subsidized healthcare coverage plans for unemployed individuals, but the requirement will determine if you’d get the plan.
One advantage of the unemployed healthcare coverage plan is the special enrollment period. Individuals who lost their job recently can qualify for special enrollment registration with which they can get suitable health coverage plans even when it is not yet time.
Notwithstanding, you can get a somewhat free health coverage plan, outside the open enrollment period if you’re unemployed. These plans however have their requirements.
Depending on the insurer, different free medical coverage policies cover different percentages of the health expenses of their beneficiaries. This means some free insurance policies have higher deductibles than others, some do not even have deductibles at all.
However, most of the time, free medical insurance policies offer very large coverage that can cover most or all of your health expenses, you might not even have to pay deductibles or any other out-of-pocket expenses.
Although free medical insurance plans are available, only a few can access them, this is because most individuals are not eligible even though they might be unemployed, and instead of getting a free plan, they might be able to get a greatly subsidized plan that is very cheap and affordable.
According to a recent survey, among the uninsured unemployed population, only about 20% are eligible for free plans, about 50 % are eligible for greatly subsidized plans and 30% are eligible for neither. This is because of the many criteria that must be met before one is deemed eligible for these plans.
So, although a free medical coverage plan is readily available for the unemployed, only a few can qualify for it. Although, it is still possible to get greatly subsidized plans even though some unemployed individuals might not qualify for them.
The Best Free Plans of Health Insurance for Unemployed Citizens
Sometimes, a free medical insurance plan is the only option for an unemployed person especially if the person has been unemployed for a very long time.
Getting a free medical insurance plan is not so easy because of the various requirements attached to the plan.
Notwithstanding, before you apply for these plans, you need to understand how they work and the requirements that would be needed. This will help you prepare and know the right plan to apply for.
Here we would talk about the various free medical insurance plans available for the unemployed and how you can get them.
Medicaid
Medicaid is a federal government-sponsored plan that is available to the public. This plan is one of the most affordable medical plans and one might even get a free plan from Medicaid.
The Medicaid plan operates under the Affordable Care Act and it has different categories of discounted plans with very large health insurance coverage.
Just like every other health insurance policy, Medicaid has its requirements that must be met for the specific category of plan that is needed.
The eligibility for Medicaid is mostly based on financial strength measured by monthly income or savings. Homeless and financially burdened individuals will find it easier to get a Medicaid plan.
Also, unemployed individuals with low financial strength have a higher tendency of being eligible for a Medicaid plan.
Although unemployment is a criterion, your income will always be considered when you apply for Medicaid. Your financial history will be accessed and hence your financial strength.
This aspect of things means that if you’ve just lost your good-paying job, you may not be eligible as your transaction history will show the previous expenditures when you were employed. And it may reflect that you might still have enough savings left for a normal health insurance plan.
Unemployed individuals that have never had a job or have lost their job for a very long time without a suitable source of income will always find it easier to qualify for a free Medicaid plan.
Moreso, the criteria for Medicaid plans and availability of free Medicaid plans might differ according to states. This means that the requirements for the Medicaid plan you get in California might slightly differ from that of New York.
Also, some states do not have Expanded Medicaid and so you might not get greatly subsidized or free plans. The required financial limits for qualification also differ from state to state.
For instance, the income level for some states with expanded Medicaid is less than 139% of the FPL (Federal Poverty Level).
So, that means you could qualify for Medicaid with an annual earning less than $19,000 for individuals and $37,000 for families in one state. But then, in another state it might be higher and they might only accept earnings as high as $23,000 for individuals and $40,000 for families.
States like Alaska with higher Federal Poverty Levels accept higher amounts and since they have expanded Medicaid programs, you can get greatly subsidized or free plans.
Other states with lower limits might be more difficult in terms of qualifying and meeting the requirements of Medicaid.
Free Bronze Plans
Another way to get a free health plan is to subscribe to free Bronze plans. Bronze Plans are the cheapest class of medical coverage plans but with higher deductibles and out of pocket expenses.
Also, Bronze plans offer the lowest insurance coverage so although the plan is very affordable, it might not cover some of your health needs and you’d still need to pay for health on any visitation.
However, the Bronze plan is the most suitable plan for healthy individuals with very positive prognosis and less reasons to visit the hospital. This means that the free Bronze plan is most suitable for healthy unemployed individuals with very little need for health care services.
The free Bronze plan is very similar to the normal Bronze plan but different in terms of monthly premiums. Depending on your income level, you could get a zero premium subsidy where you’d not have to pay for your monthly premium.
You should note that the free Bronze plans mostly cover only the monthly premiums and you might have to pay for out-of-pocket expenses including deductibles.
The American Rescue Plan
Due to the increased need for healthcare insurance, especially for the unemployed and financially unstable, a new free plan called “The American Rescue Plan ” was established under the Biden administration in 2021. This plan has been implemented so changes making it easier for unemployed individuals to enroll.
Also, this plan offers very cost-effective plans with great subsidies for monthly premiums. Depending on your financial stability, you could get a free plan via the American Rescue Plan.
Also, with the American Rescue Plan, you can get a perfect discount on COBRA health insurance premiums. With this subsidy, unemployed workers can still benefit from their former employer’s health care plan within a certain period of time.
Overall Verdict of Health Insurance Unemployment
So, even if you’re unemployed, there are still health care insurance plans you can benefit from without having to spend beyond your financial strength or budget.
You may not get access to totally free healthcare insurance plans, however, but there are massive subsidies on the insurance coverage that you can take advantage of.
As long as you meet the eligibility criteria and fulfill any requirements, you can apply to procure a 2022 unemployed health insurance plan.
With such a plan, you can now get access to premium health coverage as an unemployed citizen while you’re still seeking a job or financial engagement.
The fees, out-of-pocket costs, and other expenses to be paid as regard to the premium cost of the insurance plan will be reduced to fit your budget size.
And that helps a lot, so you don’t have to spend so heavily on medical coverage, even when you’re not currently earning a salary or making income.
Health Insurance for Unemployment FAQs
How do you get health insurance if you are unemployed?
Dealing with unemployment or losing a job is as tasking as it seems and yet you still have to deal with not being able to keep up with previous medical coverage plans or coverage policies you might have had.
To get a health coverage plan that works for you even when you’re not currently employed isn’t so difficult after all. You have the option of using COBRA coverage as a go-to healthcare insurance plan.
The COBRA coverage plan will allow you to keep up with your former coverage plans when you were still employed so you don’t have to set up a new plan.
However, the COBRA plan may be quite costly to maintain. So, you could explore other options for unemployed insurance policies like enrolling via special enrollment.
This special enrollment can be utilized for various health coverage plans as far as you meet the eligibility criteria and requirements.
And in most cases, being unemployed is one of these requirements that can get you qualified for special enrollment for insurance plans.
There are yet other options you can try to get health coverage. You could use only short-term health plans in some regions for a period until you get re-employed.
What is the best health insurance for unemployed persons?
Among the many options you might have considered already for health care coverage plans while you are unemployed, you would surely want to seek and get the best of them.
The first thing to know though is that the “best” health plan depends on many different factors. And it’s relative to persons and conditions too, so what’s best for one person or family might not be so for another. It is also dependent on what you prioritize most in health coverage plans.
We’d go for the Affordable Care Act Healthcare Insurance Plan option or the Sidecar Health Access Plan as one of the best options you should consider when you want to get a good health coverage plan when unemployed.
Sidecar Health Access Plan is affordable because of its low cost premiums to be paid every month. It’s also a fairly flexible plan since you can enroll for the plan and can also opt out at any time you wish.
How much does health insurance cost if you are unemployed?
The main goal of getting a special health coverage plan for unemployed persons while you’re yet to get a job or sustainable means of income is to reduce the costs significantly.
Insurance and coverage plans for the unemployed usually have lower premiums, monthly payments and out-of-pocket costs.
On average, you can expect to pay as low as $47 every month for an insurance plan that offers coverage to the unemployed. That’s very much lower than you’d pay with other plans.
However, the unemployment situation has to be quite recent and you should know that the costs vary with the different plans. So, it largely depends on which plan or policy you opt for.