If I change jobs, can I take my employer coverage with me?

Host: If I change jobs, can I take my employer coverage with me?

Bob Hurley: Most of us get our health insurance coverage from our employer. About roughly 60% of us get our health insurance coverage from our employer but the fact is actually, that number has declined over the last few years. It was as high as 67-68% as recently as the year 2000 and so the number of us getting our coverage through our employer is shrinking and in most cases, you cannot take your coverage with you when you leave your employer.

There are some extension of your existing coverage opportunities that are often referred to us as COBRA Coverage and COBRA Coverage is typically if you are a qualified employer, you can actually take your employer's sponsored health insurance plan with you for some period of time, usually 18 months and then the thought behind that is simply it gives you a bridge while you are looking for your new employer.

But not all employers qualify under COBRA and so you may not have any coverage when you leave your employer. You may lose your coverage and so that's one of the downsides frankly, to employer sponsored coverage or getting your coverage through your company.

When you buy your health insurance on your own you own it. It goes with you and so you can change jobs and you can keep your insurance coverage in place and then obviously, some of the benefits of that is you get to keep your doctors in place and you get to keep your pharmacist in place and you are going to continue to access the hospital that you are most familiar with.

So having your health insurance associated or tied to yourself can be very powerful when it comes to changing jobs.