I believe what terri posted above is an actual insurance company that is calling their insurance COBRA, which is a little confusing. Or at least it is not talking about COBRA in the traditional sense as their website refers to selecting from different health plans and companies, which is NOT part of the traditional use of the term COBRA. The link below has details on the more traditional interpretation of COBRA coverage -- which is continuing to receive coverage through your employer's insurance policy once you are no longer employed there. It looks as though a) if your company has 20 or more employees AND b) you are eligible through a qualifying event (which includes quitting, being laid off, or having one's hours cut back) You are BY LAW eligible to purchase coverage for 18 months. The charge for the insurance can be no more than 2% more than what your COMPANY was paying for your insurance. Hope this helps, and hope you can make it work for you to cut back those hours! Emily Here is a link that might be useful: COBRA information

There's a lot of info on COBRA with good FAQs on the internet. If your wife accepts the buy out, she will be given the opportunity to pay for the COBRA coverage for, I think, 18 months - and that should provide the same levels of coverage for her that she's had thus far. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) requires most employers with group health plans to offer employees the opportunity to continue temporarily their group health care coverage under their employer's plan if their coverage otherwise would cease due to termination, layoff, or other change in employment status (referred to as "qualifying events"). A child who is "born to or placed for adoption with the covered employee during the period of continuation coverage under [Code §490B, the Code's COBRA provisions]" is also a qualified beneficiary regardless of whether the qualifying event occurred before, on, or after such date if they are enrolled within 30 days of birth or adoption. I'm not sure much of anything is negotiable in a buyout situation unless you're classified as essential personnel. If one isn't considered essential, being offered a buyout means - forgive me for being blunt - they really, really want you to accept it and to be gone. Trying to hold out just delays the inevitable and they may well cut jobs anyway and send people packing with zero. If I were you, I'd talk to the benefits people at your place of employment since I'd imagine you'll be going to the family plan on your health insurance once COBRA is exhausted.

Insurance coverage varies so much from state to state. You'll need to do your research. Many people misunderstand COBRA. COBRA is an expensive option usually. All it is really is allowing you an option to purchase the same insurance coverages available to you now but you pay the full premium cost. There is no company contribution so expect the premium to be double or more of what you currently pay and it's only allowed for about 6 months following separation so you still have to find another option in a few months. Most of the time you can get reasonable coverage for a lot less but many people like the comfort level of keeping what they have when making a change. My experience, albeit unusual, was not good with COBRA. One foul-up after another and I just wound up going without insurance and frankly was glad that I did. But that was years ago now and insurance is required now unless you want to pay the alternative. And the problems I had were with the employer and not COBRA itself nor the insurance company. Here we have a website and a number to call to find out about insurance options. If you have something similar, I'd check that out. It could be very helpful to give you ideas of rates and coverages. A lot of times company programs include options you could live without and save substantially. For instance there's time there's vision or dental coverage and often they're not very good but they add substantially to the premium. Of course this all varies so much that there's no one rule but my point is that you should look at what it includes and what you really need and want. Maybe you could go with a higher deductible, which could save a lot too. If you do go through with resigning, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I've left jobs many times with few regrets. You sound like a sensible person and I'm sure things will work out fine. Best of luck to you no matter what happens.

I was in an auto accident and ended up in a hospital emergency room. I'm fine now, but the thing that bothered me the most was the hospital bill. Because the cause was an auto accident, I was responsible for the medical payments. My auto insurance includes medical payments, and the other driver was a fault, so I wasn't concerned about money coming from my pocket. What concerned me was the bill from the hospital for emergency service. It was, roughly $4,000, but there was a credit on the bill, reducing my payment to approximately $2,700. However, when my insurance company paid the hospital, the amount was approximately $3,100. I was puzzled by this. The insurance rep told me that the amount they paid was the amount that they had pre-negotiated with the hospital, even though the amount I was billed was less than their pre-negotiated amount. As far as I can tell, the best fiction writers are in the hospital billing departments..