US medical insurance between finishing employment and leaving the country

Question

I will be finishing my job in the USA at the end of the month. As I understand it, my employer-provided medical insurance lasts until the end of the month in which I finish work, which in this case will be the same day.

I will not be leaving the US for a further 12 days. I would like to have at least emergency medical cover for that period.

When moving here from the UK, I solved the opposite problem with "one way travel insurance". That started from the time I left the UK, and lasted for up to a month after my arrival. However, I'm not aware of anybody offering travel insurance that begins departure.

The hassle, and the cost, of taking out full-scale US health insurance for two weeks of emergency cover would be absurd. Do I have any other options?

I understand that COBRA is a thing that might be relevant, but I don't understand how it works.

Answer 1

What you can do is not get any insurance, and then if an emergency happens during those 12 days, sign up for COBRA, since it will still be within the 60 days after leaving work during which you can sign up for COBRA. If you sign up for COBRA, it will retroactively cover you from when you left work, retroactively covering your emergency. If you don't have an emergency, then you don't sign up for COBRA, and don't need to pay for anything.