There is a time window after separation though to where you have to take the coverage which is 60 days from the event leading to your COBRA eligibility.

Most comprehensive coverage is around $325 a month for the family plan. There are 3 other options less expensive, including the Regular Plan which is $0 for family coverage.

The Regular Plan cost is $0 for the entire family. The deductible is $300 for the entire family then the plan pays 80%, it pays 100% for generic drugs. Once you have spent $2500 the plan pays 100%. Routine physicals, mammograms, and newborn wellness checks aren't covered nor do they go towards the $2500 out of pocket.

For those of you who are using the regular plan how is that going? I have one child and normal medical bills and stuff. How does it pay with emergency room visits and whatnot?

Oh wow, not bad at all. That's much better than the $700 plan I pay for at my current company.

It's probably not a good plan for a family with plans to have a couple more kids on the way in the near future though. We probably should pay for the $325 plan until we're done having kids and they've all made it past their first couple years of appointments.

Fly you might be surprised how affordable wellness visits and checkups are when you pay your Dr. in cash. Ask for the no insurance or walk up cash rate.

You should crunch some numbers depending on how many kids, and how many wellness visits you plan on having. But we have a couple kids and use the regular plan and I've been very happ with it.

Whatever you do---DO NOT allow your health insurance to lapse. Ever since Al Gore's HIPAA law, insurance companies gain quite a windfall from breaks in health insurance, especially on pre-existing conditions.

Your government helping you to help yourself......or something like that.

This is true. I am in the same situation as you. As long as you are employed on day 1 of that particular month you are covered on your current plan until the end of the month. So if you are an employee on November 1st with current company you are good through the end of November. Also I think you have 60-90 days to choose cobra. May be slightly less but a good amount of time. So even if you have a lapse for a couple of weeks you can "sign up" for cobra if something happened during those two weeks. If nothing happens you won't need it.

A few questions for everyone...... I start next month and I'm trying to get a bit of info.

My situation is I'm married with three kids. I'm leading towards the regular plan discussed previously. Is this plan a PPO or an indemnity plan?

I was also under the impression that with Obama care now all wellness checks must be covered at 100%. Is there some special circumstance that does not apply with this plan? I am also asuming no co pays for sick visits or ER visits would that be correct? Over all sounds like a good plan... Right now I'm on a 90/10 plan but paying 400$ a month. Thanks for the info...

Regardless of which plan you choose. The best advice I could give to new hires at swa re health plans is to call the swapa benefits chair(s), NOT the company benefits department with any and all questions. Both guys are very knowledgeable and helpful!