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Patients with long Covid may experience disruptions to their health insurance coverage if they lose their job.
Fortunately, they have other options to turn to, which may include Medicare and Medicaid.

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Navigating the health insurance system is often difficult and overwhelming, even in the best of times. For patients with long Covid, a relatively new condition that frequently leaves patients with a lengthy and unpredictable list of debilitating symptoms, it can be especially nightmarish.
“Even if you remain on the same [health insurance] plan you had before Covid, you will probably utilize the health-care system more, whether it be more office visits, more prescription medications or even more medical devices,” said Caitlin Donovan, a spokesperson for the National Patient Advocate Foundation.

Indeed, nearly half of people with long Covid reported increased medical expenses, according to a recent survey conducted by the Patient Advocate Foundation. The nonprofit, NPAF’s sister organization, polled 64 people with the condition between 2020 and 2022. Meanwhile, 13% of respondents in the PAF survey said they’d experienced changes to their health-care coverage as a result of long Covid.

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Here’s a look at more stories on the complexities and implications of long Covid:

In all, one Harvard University researcher estimated that long Covid could leave patients with an extra $9,000 a year in medical expenses.
Here’s what you need to know about navigating health insurance with the condition.

Unemployed long Covid patients have coverage options

Between 2 million and 4 million full-time workers are out of the labor force due to long Covid, according to recent research from the Brookings Institution.
If long Covid causes you to lose or leave your job and, therefore, your employer-sponsored health insurance, don’t panic. You may have several options for getting new coverage, said Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

There are resources you can turn to for help deciding the best route to getting reinsured. If you have a diagnosed condition, including long Covid, you may be able to get support deciding on and enrolling in a plan with the Patient Advocate Foundation.
At no charge, you can also consult with a local health-care “navigator,” an expert who can help you search insurance plans and enroll in one on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace.
1. Join a family member’s plan
Losing your job-based coverage triggers a 30-day special enrollment opportunity to join a family member’s plan, Pollitz said. You might consider getting covered through your spouse’s employer or a parent’s, if you’re under 26.
2. Extend workplace coverage
If your former company had at least 20 employees, you might also have the option to get insured through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA, Pollitz said.
COBRA typically allows people who leave a company to remain on their workplace insurance plan for up to 18 months — although it’s not cheap. (It tends to be pricey because you pick up the part of the health insurance tab your former company was covering.)
There are exceptions that can stretch coverage. If the Social Security Administration considers you disabled (long Covid can qualify as a disability), you may be able to stay on COBRA for an additional 11 months. Those who qualify for Medicare around the time they part with a company may also qualify for an extension beyond the typical 18 months.
3. See if you qualify for Medicaid
If your job loss has left your household with a substantially lower income, you may be able to enroll in Medicaid, Pollitz said. “This is comprehensive public coverage with no monthly premium,” she said. Eligibility is based on your current income, Pollitz added, and you can sign up year-round.
If you’re receiving disability benefits from a private insurer and/or through your employer, that income won’t necessarily disqualify you for Medicaid; you’ll want to check whether or not the payments are subject to taxes.
“If the benefits are taxable as income, then they would count toward Medicaid eligibility,” Pollitz said.

Even if you remain on the same plan you had before Covid, you will probably utilize the health-care system more.

Caitlin Donovan
spokesperson at the Patient Advocate Foundation

4. Sign up for a plan on the public exchange
Long Covid patients who have recently become unemployed may also be able to get health insurance on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace. Losing your job triggers a 60-day enrollment period on the marketplace, where many of the plans are subsidized.
“Fortunately, ACA insurers are not allowed to discriminate based on health,” said Jonathan Gruber, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a former director of the health-care program at the National Bureau of Economic Research. “So having long Covid will not raise costs.”
5. Explore Medicare eligibility
Lastly, if you end up qualifying for Social Security Disability Insurance because of your long Covid, you may become eligible for Medicare, even if you’re younger than 65, after a two-year waiting period.
If you’re already 65 or older when you lose your job, Medicare may be your best option for coverage, Donovan said.
“Medicare comes with the benefit of an almost universal network, in contrast to marketplace plans,” Donovan said, adding that delaying enrollment once you’re eligible can also subject you to financial penalties.

Employed patients ought to review benefits

If your case of long Covid hasn’t disrupted your employment and you remain insured at work, you’ll want to make sure you’re signed up in a robust plan, Donovan said.
A more comprehensive workplace plan typically comes with a higher monthly premium but lower out-of-pocket expenses and more options, Donovan said. It’s especially important, she added, that you get the most generous prescription drug plan, if your company offers a variety of them.
Educate yourself as much as you can about your coverage, Donovan said, including information on providers and treatments that you might formerly not have considered.
Long Covid patients, for example, often seek physical therapy and mental health services, she said.
You’ll also want to make sure you’re up to date on your employer’s paid time off and sick days policy.

Clinical trials are ‘worth investigating’

Clinical trials, many of which are covered by health insurance plans, can be a great option for long Covid patients, Donovan said.
“Long Covid is still new, so anyone who participates in a clinical trial will be contributing to our understanding of the condition and advancing our ability to treat it,” she said.

And, she added, “clinical trial participants may have access to the newest safe and effective treatments.”
Trials take place all over the country, and some are even virtual, Donovan said. People can find out more at clinicaltrials.gov and by talking to their doctor.
Keep in mind, Donovan said, that your health insurance plan may require any trials be in-network and it may only cover certain costs of the experience.
Still, Donovan said, “it’s worth investigating.”
Meanwhile, those looking to save money on prescription costs should ask about generic options, which tend to be cheaper than the brand-name medicines.
In addition, Donovan said, programs like GoodRx may help you cut costs on certain drugs. And the Patient Advocate Foundation has a charitable copay program to which those struggling financially can apply.
Finally, Donovan said, with so much still unknown about long Covid, insurers may be more likely to reject coverage for a particular treatment or service. Patients should fight back, she said.
“Don’t lose hope,” Donovan said. “Go through the appeal process: Over 40% of denials are overturned in the patient’s favor.” More

Home maintenance and repair costs can end up costing thousands of dollars a year, research shows.
Consider putting at least 1% of your home’s value aside each year to cover those expenses.
Taking care of your home — whether through regular maintenance or small repairs — can help avoid more expensive fixes.

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Some expenses that go with homeownership can often be unpredictable — and costly.
Last year, homeowners spent an average of $6,000 on maintenance and repairs, according to a recent report from insurance firm Hippo. A separate study from home services website Angi that measured similar 2022 costs shows maintenance averaged $2,467 and home emergency spending — i.e., an unexpected repair — was $1,953 on average ($4,420 altogether).

Regardless of what you may fork over for those expenses, they have the potential to upend a household’s budget when unexpected. While some of the costs may be unpredictable, there are things you can do to mitigate their sting, experts say.
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Aim to set aside least 1% of your home’s value

For starters, the general advice is to annually set aside at least 1% to 3% of your home’s purchase price to cover a combination of home improvements, maintenance and repairs, said Angie Hicks, chief customer officer of Angi.
“That’s for all three buckets,” Hicks said. “For a $400,000 home, the [$4,420] in maintenance and emergency spending in our report is closer to 1%. You want to make sure you have that 1% covered.”
The median selling price for a home stood at $393,756 as of November, according to Redfin. (One percent of that amount is $3,937.)

Maintenance costs may reduce repair expenses

While it’s wise to have money set aside, maintenance can help reduce what you spend on unexpected repairs, Hicks said.
“We’re seeing an increased focus on maintenance activities, which is good to see,” Hicks said. “When there are inflationary pressures, people … don’t want to be surprised, so they start doing more maintenance-type projects that they might have previously skipped over.”
And some things — such as remembering to regularly replace your furnace filter to help keep the system run optimally — can often be done by the homeowner.

In the Hippo report, which was based on a survey of about 1,000 homeowners, 65% of respondents who had something go wrong in their house last year said they could have prevented it with proactive maintenance.
By way of example: It’s worth doing a visual inspection of your roof a couple times a year to make sure you don’t see any missing or curled shingles that warrant a repair before the problem worsens and you’re facing extensive water damage, Hicks said.
“You don’t want a leak,” Hicks said. “Water is the worst enemy of your house.”
While the specifics of a necessary roof repair determine the cost, the average is $1,000, according to thisoldhouse.com. That compares to an average $3,342 shelled out for water-damage repairs, according to Angi.

Monitor and maintain your home’s systems

It’s worth getting your main systems, such as heating and cooling, serviced on a regular basis, said Courtney Klosterman, home insights expert at Hippo.
Also, “get to know the critical systems in your home — major appliances, plumbing, electrical, etc. — so you can monitor them for wear and tear over time,” Klosterman said.

You may want to keep track of how long major appliances in your home will last. For example, furnaces generally last 15 to 20 years if well-maintained, according to home appliances maker Carrier. If yours is closing in on that age, you’ll know to be financially ready to replace or repair it instead of being surprised by its failure.
Unexpected house-related costs have a way of weighing more heavily on homeowners, Klosterman said.
“When one thing goes wrong, it brings a wave of anxiety and dread about what could go wrong next,” she said. “Taking a proactive approach to home care can save not just money but time and anxiety, as well.”

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As the Federal Reserve remains committed to raising interest rates to combat inflation, credit card rates will hit fresh highs in the year ahead.
Soon, annual percentage rates will surpass 20%, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst said.
Here’s the best way to pay down credit card debt before rates climb any higher.

Credit card interest rates reached record highs last year and there is still more to come in 2023, according to Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.
Credit card rates are now more than 19%, on average — an all-time high — after rising at the steepest annual pace ever, in step with the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes to combat inflation.

Along with the Fed’s commitment to keep raising its benchmark until more progress is made, credit card annual percentage rates will keep climbing, as well. 
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With more rate hikes on the horizon, average credit card APRs could be as high as 20.5% by the end of the year, a new record, McBride said.
Since most credit cards have a variable rate, there’s a direct connection to the Fed’s benchmark. As the federal funds rate rises, the prime rate does, too, and credit card rates follow suit. Cardholders usually see the impact within a billing cycle or two.
“The important takeaway for current cardholders is that another 1 percentage point in rate hikes by the Fed means your rate will move up by 1 percentage point,” McBride said.

A 0% balance transfer card can help

“The urgency remains — pay down credit card debt aggressively,” McBride advised.
Turbocharge those efforts with a 0% balance transfer card and refrain from putting additional purchases on credit cards unless you can pay the balance in full at the end of the month, he said.   
Cards offering 15, 18 and even 21 months with no interest on transferred balances “are still in abundance,” he added.
“This gives you a tailwind to get the debt paid off and shields you from the effect of additional rate hikes still to come.”

“If you don’t take steps to knock that debt down, it will only get more expensive,” said Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s chief credit analyst.
Making the best use of a balance transfer boils down to making those payments on time and aggressively paying down the balance during the introductory period, according to Schulz.
If you don’t pay the balance off, the remaining balance will have a higher APR applied to it, which is generally about 23%, on average, in line with the rates for new credit.
Further, there can be limits on how much you can transfer and fees attached. Most cards have a one-time balance transfer fee, usually around 3% to 5% of the tab, Schulz said.
And one late payment can negate your no-interest offer.
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The Biden administration filed a legal brief with the U.S. Supreme Court defending its plan to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in student debt.
The lawyers argued that the legal challenges to the plan were brought by parties that failed to show harm from the policy.
The brief also denied that the Biden administration was overstepping its authority.

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The Biden administration filed a legal brief with the U.S. Supreme Court defending its plan to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in student debt.
In its arguments to the highest court submitted late Wednesday, lawyers for the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice argued that the challenges to the plan were brought by parties that failed to show harm from the policy, which is typically a requirement to establish so-called legal standing.

The attorneys also denied the claim that the Biden administration was overstepping its authority, laying out the White House’s argument that it is acting within the law. It points to the fact that the Heroes Act of 2003 grants the U.S. secretary of education the authority to waive regulations related to student loans during national emergencies.
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The country has been operating under an emergency declaration due to Covid since March 2020.
“We remain confident in our legal authority to adopt this program that will ensure the financial harms caused by the pandemic don’t drive borrowers into delinquency and default,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
The Supreme Court agreed to take the case on President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan last month, and the justices will hear oral arguments on Feb. 28.

In the meantime, the Biden administration is blocked from carrying out its plan. Before it closed its application portal, around 26 million Americans applied for the relief.

Supreme Court to hear two challenges

Biden announced in August that tens of millions of Americans would be eligible for cancellation of their education debt — up to $20,000 if they received a Pell Grant in college, a type of aid available to low-income families, and up to $10,000 if they didn’t.
Since then, Republicans and conservative groups have filed at least six lawsuits to try to kill the policy, arguing that the president doesn’t have the power to cancel consumer debt without authorization from Congress and that the policy is harmful.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two of those legal challenges: One brought by six GOP-led states that argue that forgiveness will hurt the companies in their states that service federal student loans, and another involving two plaintiffs who say they’ve been harmed by the policy by the fact that they are partially or fully excluded from the loan forgiveness.

Higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz said the Biden administration made many strong arguments in its brief.
“The federal government does a very good job of demonstrating that the plaintiffs lack legal standing,” Kantrowitz said.
Yet it’s possible the justices will look beyond the issue of legal standing and consider the merits of the plaintiffs’ arguments.
In that case, the president’s plan would face low odds of survival, given the court’s conservative majority, experts say.

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Americans quit their jobs at a higher rate in November than October, the first time since March that the metric has increased, according to U.S. Department of Labor data.
Workers overwhelmingly leave their jobs for new positions, economists said. They generally receive a pay boost for doing so — and that premium has risen substantially for job switchers.

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The share of workers who quit their jobs jumped in November for the first time since last spring — and they’re getting a big pay bump for moving, data shows.
The “quits rate” among U.S. workers was 2.7% in November, up from 2.6% the prior month, according to U.S. Department of Labor data issued Wednesday. It was the first time the rate increased since last March.

The quits rate measures the number of people who quit their jobs during the month as a percent of total employment.
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Almost 4.2 million people left their jobs voluntarily in November, according to Labor Department data. Workers who quit overwhelmingly do so in order to take new jobs, economists said.
The labor market remains strong by historical standards, characterized by a high level of job openings and low layoffs. That translates to ample opportunity for workers, who generally get an increase in pay when they accept a new position.

“Job switching is one of the best ways to get a raise,” said Nick Bunker, economic research director at Indeed. “People are quitting their jobs because it pays to quit their job.”

In fact, the difference in wage growth for job switchers relative to those who stay in their current role is at a record high, said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.

Job switchers got a 7.7% increase in wages in November from a year earlier, versus a 5.5% increase for job stayers, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. That 2.2-point difference is about three times higher than the 0.7-point historical trend, Pollak said.
“There are clearly big benefits to switching jobs right now,” Pollak said.

Why this is a ‘golden era’ for job seekers

Quickly rising pay for the average American is a byproduct of a surge in demand for labor that started in 2021 as large sections of the U.S. economy began to reopen after a period of pandemic-induced dormancy.
Job openings ballooned to record highs. Quits increased in lockstep — a trend that came to be known as the Great Resignation. Layoffs fell to historic lows as businesses sought to hang onto their existing workers.
“This is one of the best times ever for workers and jobseekers,” said Pollak, adding that workers have an unprecedented degree of job security and opportunity. “It remains a sort of golden era.”

While job openings and the level of quitting have declined from peaks in late 2021 and early 2022, they remain elevated by historic standards. Quits will likely remain high until labor demand takes a serious downturn, Bunker said.
Of course, wage growth hasn’t kept pace with inflation for the average worker. So-called “real” hourly wages — a measure of pay after accounting for inflation — declined by 1.9% in November, according to the Labor Department.
In other words, the average consumer lost buying power because rapidly rising prices for goods and services outstripped pay growth.  
But job switchers did better at keeping up with inflation than those who stayed at their jobs. In fact, in November, their annual 7.7% wage growth beat the 7.1% annual inflation rate, according to a comparison of Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta wage data relative to the consumer price index.

Policymakers try to cool job market to tame inflation

Wage growth is feeding into inflation, which has declined but remains near its highest level in about four decades. The U.S. Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates aggressively in a bid to reduce demand in the economy, cool the labor market and snuff out stubbornly high inflation.
Wage growth has moderated a bit from 2021, though remains strong relative to its pre-pandemic trend, Bunker said. If wages continue to increase at rapid rates, policymakers may feel the need to raise borrowing costs even more than anticipated — cooling the labor market further in the process.

Currently, the brakes don’t seem to be slamming on the labor market, at least not in the near future.
“The labor market is the bedrock source of strength for the U.S. economy right now,” Bunker said.
Some economists recommend workers prepare in case a downturn eventually comes, and increased layoffs with it.
“Even for those who believe their employment is stable, it would be wise to keep job contacts intact in case things change over the course of the year,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.

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If you get paid biweekly as a W-2 employee, there are two months out of the year when you will receive three paychecks instead of two.
Here’s how to plan ahead for those three-paycheck months.

How to plan for three-paycheck months

Taking home three paychecks in one month can give your financial standing a boost, according to Winnie Sun, co-founder and managing director of Sun Group Wealth Partners, based in Irvine, California, and a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council.

“If you have credit card debt, that needs to be paid off first,” she advised. As day-to-day expenses continue to rise, Americans are taking on more debt. At the same time, annual percentage rates are also on the rise, making it much more expensive to carry a balance.
After that, consider stashing an extra paycheck in long-term savings, such as a Roth individual retirement account, Sun said. A Roth has the added advantage of allowing account holders to withdraw their contributions at any time without taxes or penalties.

Even if you decide to tap the cash “for a vacation or something fun, that’s OK — as long as a portion still goes toward savings,” Sun added.
“Now might be a really good time to have that extra cash, given the uncertainty in the economy,” said CFP Douglas Boneparth, president of Bone Fide Wealth in New York. He is also a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council.
“If that’s taken care of, it’s a great opportunity to continue investing, whether that’s adding to your portfolio or increasing your retirement contribution,” he said.
Contributions to a traditional workplace 401(k) plan, unlike a Roth IRA or 401(k), are pretax, so the more you put in, the lower your taxable income. Further, companies often offer an employer match, which is essentially free money toward your retirement savings goals.

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The American depository receipt shares of Alibaba jumped more than 6% in premarket trading following the news.
The moves come as investors are seeing signs of a more relaxed Chinese regulatory environment.
A softer regulatory touch among its tech stocks, as well as the reversal of zero Covid policies, is seen by some investors as a sign that the Chinese government will be supportive of private sector growth this year.

Alibaba has faced growth challenges amid regulatory tightening on China’s domestic technology sector and a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. But analysts think the e-commerce giant’s growth could pick up through the rest of 2022.
Kuang Da | Jiemian News | VCG | Getty Images

Chinese tech stocks that trade in the U.S. jumped Wednesday morning after Chinese officials approved an expanded capital plan from Ant Group.
The American depository receipt shares of Alibaba jumped more than 6% in premarket trading following the news, as did shares of JD.com. Elsewhere, shares of Baidu and NetEase rose more than 5% each, while Trip.com popped 4.5%.

The moves come as investors are seeing signs of a more relaxed Chinese regulatory environment. Ant Group, which previously had its own IPO plans scuttled by regulatory concerns, was allowed to double its registered capital as part of the new plan.
A softer regulatory touch among its tech stocks, as well as the reversal of zero-Covid policies, is seen by some investors as a sign that the Chinese government will be supportive of private sector growth this year.
“China has struck a notably accommodating tone in recent months, pivoting away from its stringent COVID controls and dialing back its regulations on previously highly depressed sectors (i.e., property). The recent Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) has set government’s priority for 2023 to revive consumption and support the private sector,” Fawne Jiang of Benchmark Capital wrote in a note to clients Wednesday.
ADRs are similar to common stock, but represent a more indirect form of ownership. They also allow Chinese shares to trade in the U.S. without the companies having to follow U.S. accounting regulations, which has led to concern that they may be delisted at some point in the future.
However, last month the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board — a U.S. accounting watchdog — announced that it had received access to examine accounting firms in China and Hong Kong. That move is seen as a positive step in lowering the risk of delisting.

— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
Correction: Chinese tech stocks that trade in the U.S. jumped Wednesday morning. An earlier version misstated the day.

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You may assume the Federal Reserve rate hikes mean you are making higher interest on your cash.
Here’s why you could be wrong.

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As the Federal Reserve continues to hike interest rates, you may assume you’re earning more on the money in your savings account.
But that may not be the case.

related investing news

12 hours ago

Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner at Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida, was recently surprised when a client told her he was hardly making any interest on his cash.
The interest rate on his Capital One account was 0.3%, far lower than the 3.3% annual percentage yield the firm is currently advertising for new savings accounts. McClanahan discovered the same situation when she checked her own Capital One account.
“I was not happy,” McClanahan said.
While a call to Capital One’s customer service revealed it was possible to access the higher interest rate by opening a new account, McClanahan decided it was better to move the money elsewhere.
“I’ve been recommending Capital One for a long time, and they are now off my list,” McClanahan said.

Capital One did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Federal Reserve has raised the federal funds rate to the highest levels since 2007. While that makes borrowing more expensive for credit cards and other accounts, the expectation is that it will also push up the interest consumers can make on their cash savings.
Some online savings accounts are touting rates as high as 4%. Some certificates of deposit, or CDs, may provide higher rates, depending on the term.
Rates are expected to climb even higher as Federal Reserve poised to continue its hiking cycle in 2023. Bankrate.com predicts top-yielding national money market and savings accounts could climb to 5.25% by year end.
Yet like McClanahan, others may be in for a surprise if they realize their accounts are not keeping up with those top rates.
“Consumers need to check their accounts at least once a month to see what their accounts are earning,” said Ken Tumin, senior industry analyst at LendingTree and founder of Deposit Accounts.
“Don’t assume it’s the latest greatest rate,” he said.
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Following Fed rate hikes, online savings accounts should generally be in the ballpark of the federal funds rate within about a month, according to Tumin.
There are signs that may help consumers spot when they may get shortchanged on rates.
Watch for changing account names, Tumin said. If a bank is touting savings offers under a new account name from when you opened your account, the terms you are subject to might not be the latest.
If you see a new account, often you can request to be upgraded.
“That’s an easy way to get the benefit of the higher rate,” Tumin said.
Also be more vigilant when a bank, such as Emigrant Bank, has more than one online division, Tumin said. In September, Emigrant’s Dollar Savings Direct division was the first to offer 3% on an account, which eventually climbed to 3.5%.
Now, however, its My Savings Direct division has the highest rate for an online account, with 4.35%, Tumin noted.

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