Health Insurance: Looking Back -- And Ahead
Ryann Galganowicz Hogan, 28, Had to Pay COBRA Premiums
Each year, many of us make choices about our health insurance. See how life and their health plans affected some people this year and how that will reflect in 2008 selections. We'll check back with some of them in the coming year to see how their choices work out. Select an image to the left to read more. | |||||||||||
A divorce filing and a new job as an Arlington County special ed teacher left Ryann Galganowicz Hogan, who lives in Washington, with a tough decision: "You have this lapse in between jobs" -- or life situations, she says. "Do you go on COBRA, carry individual insurance or go without?" Hogan opted to continue her previous coverage with Cigna Open Access Plus, assuming the full monthly $321 premiums through COBRA. Job and life transitions can leave individuals and families exposed on the health insurance front. The Census Bureau's oft-cited figure of 47 million Americans who were uninsured last year counts only those who were without coverage for the entire year. Many more Americans -- 66 million in 2004, for example -- go without health insurance at some point during the year. When Hogan learned that her new employer offered the same Cigna PPO plan, she signed up again, but for a lower cost this time -- about a fifth of what she paid under COBRA. "Cigna was the most expensive [plan the school system offered] but not by too much," Hogan said. "Overall, I have not had any problems with the coverage." Her grade: B+/A- | |||||||||||
