[California] Laid off 7/31/2021. Something happened where I don't think calCOBRA was paid for for August-September 2021. I now have to pay the penalty. Please advise.

[dippinb]

**I have a learning disability which I don't tell anyone about.  In parts of my story where you might think I should follow-up; I just did not follow up because it got too overwhelming.**

Laid off 7/31/2021. 

I elected for calCOBRA.  calCOBRA somehow did not get the paperwork I mailed; Blue Shield ran that department supposedly; customer service claimed it's because people were working from home.  I emailed the paperwork the last day I was able to elect.  They got it processed.

I submitted insurance charges to my former employer per their request via email for the months of August and September 2021.  They confirmed getting my email and that they would pay shortly.

I kept getting bills saying there was no payment. Since they weren't paying, I didn't pay for October 2021.  I decided I was just going to act like I had no insurance because I was not sure it would be effective.  I made sure not to make any claims for those months.  I emailed Blue Shield to say I wanted to cancel everything.   I started my new job's insurance November 2021.

I think I stopped getting bills from Blue Shield in December 2021.  Since August 2021, I have been checking the Blue Shield website for any bills.  I followed instructions to view any bills; the instructions were wrong; there is no bill section.  The website says I was only covered until July 2021.

Fast-forward to April 2022.  It's tax time.  I noticed that I have a penalty of $243 because of the period between August-October 2021.  The history of coverage mailed to me shows I was not covered August-October 2021.

Please advise.  Should I just eat the penalty and pay?

[RobertB4444 · Accepted solution]

I want to advise you to dive back into the red tape.  This is a partially fixable problem but it involves many bureaucrats and a lot of hassle.  It sounds like your former employer has a lot of responsibility here because you were supposed to be covered by COBRA and weren't.  You can fight this and avoid that penalty.

However, this is a lot of work.  And you have stated up front that your learning disability makes situations like this overwhelming.  You can fight this whole mess but no one would blame you for deciding the fight isn't worth the amount of the penalty.  So you should weigh that as the option and make a decision.

[dippinb]

I totally appreciate your response.  Thank you.

I just found out about the short gap coverage exemption, too.