COBRA is not the only option. Now, I'm not sure how pregnancies work into the calculations, but there are alternatives to check out. I'm not any type of paid endorser, but when I was hired I went to this site to find a plan:

Health Insurance - Find Affordable Health Insurance Plans and Buy Medical Coverage Online

I did not choose a short-term plan. I chose one that was long-term but one I could cancel at any time. The premium was less and when coverage kicked in at CAL I canceled the plan (actually I paid for 6 months up front and then called them when renewal payment was due).

I'm not saying it's great to have to wait six months for coverage, it isn't. But, I know healthy people/families with no preexisting conditions who wouldn't make the leap to CAL because they couldn't afford COBRA for 6 months. COBRA is not the only game in town, especially if you are healthy. I found coverage for 22% of the cost of what my prior company would have charged me for COBRA.

Wow, didn't believe that was true. That will be a rough start, I had to get cobra for the family earlier this year, 1300.00 per month.

Thanks for all the information guys.
Its definitely do-able. Even with this temporary burden, I am very much looking forward to this opportunity. Looks like I have a little research to do for health coverage. I may have to start another thread on this if I find anything worthwhile. I'm sure others will undoubtedly be in the same position.

Your statement is very clear, but still many will not understand.

As a 13 year UAL pilot furloughed twice, now flying on the CAL side, I cannot believe we require new hires to pay for medical the first 6 months. Another thing to add to the list that I will need to see on the TA or it is a NO vote!

We need to take better care of our junior/new hire folks! The SCABS like to pull up the ladder "I've got mine".....well I for one am going to pull the ladder BACK down!

IF there's a contract approved in November it will most likely have medical from day one. I say this because sUAL has it now and I can't imagine them negotiating backwards on this issue.

IF the effective date of the contract is immediate then you might get medical sooner than six months. While it may take some time to implement certain parts of a new contract, medical is already in place and you might be covered the day after it's signed.

If you work under CAL's contract very long those are words you'll get very used to saying. Hopefully it will all be a dim memory soon.

Any ideas what the online assessment is (or was) like? Is it technical, or one of those personality profiles?

UAL had you do one at home, then take a proctored one. Presumably to verify that it was you.

Yeah, I remember doing the proctored one, it has to be an approved site. I had to drive 3.5 hours to get to a place. What a pain.