Employer Health Insurance with Temporary Agency
Dear Terry,
I had wanted to sign up for health insurance with my employer, a temporary agency but I get a W2. My employer says that I have to work with them for one year with a minimum of 30 hours with less than 13 weeks break. They said they will let me know when I am eligible.
I started working with them in Feb 2020 & had a break when they ran out of work after about 4 months. They didn’t have any projects so I had worked with another company remotely. I started working with my current employer again in April 2021. I had a break for the month of August and started with them again September 1st. I had another short break of about 2 weeks later, when they ran out of work. I have never applied for unemployment in the past 2 decades.
Do I really have to wait until on or about April to apply for health insurance with my current employer? Will my premiums, with my employer be more because I waited?
I will lose my VA benefits (I’m an Army Reservist and was deployed 5 years ago and had a VA entitlement for it will be 5 years from my last deployment & I am not disabled.)
Terry Says
Your employer has a crappy insurance program — dedicated to NOT giving benefits to employees. For sure, I’d suggest you find another employer! They should be ashamed! But yes, they can set these restrictions.
You should IMMEDIATELY sign up during the open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) at Healthcare.gov. You just estimate how much you will earn in 2022 and they will calculate the subsidy to which you are entitled. Then you can choose a plan and sign up right on that site. Just be sure you understand the out-of-pocket expenses if you are ill, which will be larger with the cheaper bronze plan for example.
Start right now — don’t delay.
