Surgery Scheduled During Insurance Change

Hi, All. My wife and I are looking to increase our understanding of how to best navigate a medical insurance change. We live in Illinois.

My wife is undergoing a salpingectomy on December 19th. I am currently on COBRA, and my wife is on my plan too, but I will be starting a new job on December 4th that allows me to enroll in new insurance effective my start date.

We know it can take some time for elections to be processed and an insurance card to be received. As a result, we are worried that we won't be able to provide the hospital with my new employer's insurance in time for the surgery and will have to pay out of pocket. I also read that coverage for salpingectomies is required as part of ACA rules unless the plan was grandfathered, but I am not 100% sure about this.

Does anyone know the best way to handle this situation and avoid having to pay out of pocket? I have 30 days to elect benefits through my employer, so could I just wait until after the surgery to enroll with my employer's plan and use my COBRA coverage for the surgery?

submitted by /u/SmilingGengar
[comments]