WHAT
IF YOU HAVE A PRE-EXISTING HEALTH CONDITION?
Before passage of the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 1997, people had to worry
about health insurance coverage for preexisting conditions like
diabetes, heart disease, or cancer. If you changed jobs and had to
change insurers, you might not have been able to get some of your care
covered because of the preexisting condition exclusion.
Today, HIPAA helps to assure continued
coverage for employees and their dependents, regardless of preexisting
conditions. Insurers can impose only a 12-month waiting period for any
preexisting condition that has been diagnosed or treated within the
preceding 6 months. As long as you have maintained continuous coverage
without a break of more than 63 days, your prior health insurance
coverage will be credited toward the preexisting condition exclusion
period.
If you have had group health coverage
for at least 1 year and you change jobs and health plans, your new plan
can't impose another preexisting condition exclusion period. If you
have never been covered by an employer's group plan and you start a new
job that offers such a plan, you may be subject to a 12-month
preexisting condition waiting period. Federal law also makes it easier
for you to get individual insurance under certain situations. You may,
however, have to pay a higher premium for individual insurance if you
have a preexisting condition.
If you have not had coverage previously
and you are unable to get insurance on your own, you should check with
your State insurance commissioner to see if your State has a high-risk
pool (described previously in this booklet). You can find the phone
number for your State insurance commissioner in the blue pages of your
local phone book.
Source:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and America's Health
Insurance Plans.
For more information about finding the right health insurance policy
for you, contact GotAffordableHealthInsurance.com, a licensed
California health insurance agency.
I represent the major health
insurance plan carriers and write policies all over the
state. For more information, call our insurance agency at 323-937-5690
or email
me with any questions that you have about buying health
insurance in California.
Contact us today, and find how to find a affordable health insurance
plan today.
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