Has anyone quit a job and taken temporary marketplace healthcare?

[deek]

Going to keep this short, and just trying to figure out all our options..
We are almost at the point of having no other option but for my wife to quit her job. Multiple work-related reasons, but also, it's taking a massive toll on her mental health. Physical as well. There is no coming back from it while staying in this role. Everything is working against her.

We also have a beautiful 6-month old.
I'm here to see if anyone has taken advantage of marketplace healthcare options temporarily while finding a long term role.

Here's our current financial situation:
- We have over 80k combined in HYSAs.
- We would be losing about $5k/month in take home if she leaves (good chance she would get a less stressful temporary gig eventually, while applying for long-term jobs)
- I have about 5700-6000 a month take home
- Monthly expenses about $6k (we could trim this a little bit, but daycare/mortgage/groceries/utilities/phone/streaming is still around $4400/month)
- Seeing about 600-700 a month in Health coverage expenses if we were to find a marketplace option

I also take a biweekly specialty medication so I'm not sure how this affects things. I pay $5 a month for it after insurance and a Patience Support card that I have.

[charis]

Why can't you get health care through your job?  Also, why would you still need to pay for daycare if she isn't working?

[NotJen]

- I have about 5700-6000 a month take home

Do you have access to health insurance through your job? (I'm going to assume no since you didn't mention it, but thought I'd ask for completeness.)

- Seeing about 600-700 a month in Health coverage expenses if we were to find a marketplace option

How does this compare to her COBRA cost?

I also take a biweekly specialty medication so I'm not sure how this affects things. I pay $5 a month for it after insurance and a Patience Support card that I have.

If you enter the medications you take (and doctors) in the Marketplace, it will tell you which plans cover them.


Other than it being a hassle to switch insurance providers, I don't see a problem using the marketplace temporarily if you need to.

[deek]

Why can't you get health care through your job?  Also, why would you still need to pay for daycare if she isn't working?

I am a contractor currently and do not have access to healthcare through my employer. My current contract runs through September, and a little before that time is when I would start discussing potential full-time salary if it's something that makes sense and that I'm interested in.

[BECABECA]

This is outside of the box a bit, but she might qualify for FMLA for either the mental health or physical health situations that work is causing. In which case, your medical coverage under her employment would continue. Even if she took her full FMLA for the birth of your 6month old, I believe it could have reset for this year if her employer bases the period off of the calendar year or their specific fiscal year instead of a straight 12 month rolling period. Might be something to look into.

[Dicey]

What's a Patience Support card? I may need one of those.

[deek]

What's a Patience Support card? I may need one of those.

haha - patient, that makes more sense. Sorry to lead you on.

[travel2020]

Haven’t used it personally but our DD has used it a couple of times when transitioning jobs and either her new job didn’t start right away or had a waiting period for insurance to be active. She had to plan a little to make sure there weren’t any gaps and then also cancel it to end when her new coverage started. Pretty straightforward and her rates/coverage were quite reasonable.

[Spondulix]

Get all your dental work done before going off the work plan. When you buy yourself the deductibles are much higher and there’s usually a long waiting period.

Are there any options for leave of absence at the job? Or WFH accommodation to help lower stress?

[wonkette]

The marketplace options vary quite a bit across the country, with some areas only having a few options.

Nothing will beat modeling this on healthcare.gov or your state's website. This is definitely a situation to read all the fine print. You may be able to find a local navigator if you want more detailed information. There are high quality plans available on the marketplaces! Most plans will cover the visits young children need in the first years of life the "well baby" visits, but you cannot predict how often baby will get sick. Even with the amount of cash you're sitting on I wouldn't go for a super high deductible plan with a young kid. I have two young kids and we see the pediatrician at least once a month.

I'm guessing if you have a six month old your wife has already invoked FMLA in the last 12 months.