Ask the Expert: Double-check Cobra span

My husband is an independent contractor, and I worked in banking for 20 years to get our family's health insurance. I was laid off two years ago. My Cobra benefits run out this month; the bank says I can't be covered in its plan anymore. All the alternatives I've found cost $10,000 or more, plus big out-of-pocket expenses. We make too much for state assistance; we earned about $50,000 in each of the past two years. Do you have any advice? 

Double-check your Cobra eligibility. That coverage may not be expiring yet.

You've done your research well. Health insurance is astronomically expensive.

Six insurers sell individual policies in Nassau and Suffolk counties. The cheapest plan offered by five of these companies costs an average $2,400 a month for a married couple. That's right, $28,800 a year!

Only one of the six listed insurers, Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York, charges a couple less than $2,200 a month; its monthly per adult premium is $752.63, or $18,063 a year for a couple.

As an independent contractor, your husband is eligible for Oxford's health plan for sole proprietors; but that's still a steep $10,800 a year for a couple.

And eligibility for the government-assisted Healthy NY insurance program depends partly on your household income per person. To qualify, a family of two can't earn more than $3,036 a month. (A sole proprietor can deduct documented monthly business expenses when calculating his income.)

The only upbeat news is that in 2009, New York State extended Cobra eligibility from 18 months to 36 months -- so if you started Cobra two years ago, you should have another year of coverage. Click here to read  more on New York Cobra coverage at  ins.state.ny.us/cobra/cobra_ext_36.htm. Then call your former employer.

The bottom line: Cobra is available to those who are eligible for up to 36 months in New York State.

More information: Click here to read more about the Healthy NY plan at  bit.ly/gsSsY3.