With the recent economic troubles in the country many companies have had to stop hiring, layoff employees, or have even gone out of business, leaving many people out of work and with medical insurance. Many people think that the solution to finding new medical insurance is to find a new job, however there are many applicants for the limited number of jobs available, so that may not be the best solution. This leaves many people who are already struggling financially to have to consider purchasing their own medical insurance as well.

In 1985 the federal government enacted the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or C.O.B.R.A., which provides a medical insurance option to individuals, and the families of those individuals, who have lost their jobs. The primary impact of C.O.B.R.A. is that employers must allow employees who have been laid off to purchase medical insurance through the company for 18 months from their date of termination. The employer does not need to subsidize the medical insurance, so the former employee must pay the entire monthly premium themselves, however you do get to purchase the medical insurance at the group rate, which is considerably cheaper then purchasing insurance on your own. Recently, the federal government has provided money, via the economic stimulus package, to help subsidize the C.O.B.R.A. costs for individuals, up to 60% of the total costs. Right now this aid is supposed to expire at the end of this year; however there are plans in Washington D.C. to extend the coverage to next year.

While the federal assistance has helped to subsidize the C.O.B.R.A. costs for individuals who are out of work, there are still many people who are unable to afford C.O.B.R.A. coverage. If you cannot afford to purchase this insurance from your former employer then you will have to find less expensive health insurance on your own.

It is extremely difficult to find health insurance that you can afford when you are collecting unemployment. In some families, they choose to only insure one or two people. They may purchase health coverage for the family breadwinner and, possibly, a member who is in poor health and who will most likely need to file claims for assistance. These are just a few of the many tough choices these families must make. When shopping for health insurance, they must take the time to compare health insurance companies and obtain health insurance quotes from those that offer the best policies. Comparison-shopping is very important so that you can be certain that you are purchasing the best policy at the lowest possible rate.

Finding affordable medical insurance is not an easy task. It will take a lot of time, and a lot of research, analyzing all of the plans that are available to you, the costs associated with each plan, and the costs associated with each plan. The government is continuing to try to help as many individuals as possible obtain medical insurance, and the health care reform bill is slowly working its way through Congress, which will hopefully provide an affordable coverage that provides real benefits for all Americans who need it.

If you are looking to compare health insurance companies and various health insurance plans conduct your search at www.healthinsuranceplace.com.