Coverage For a Pre-Existing Condition
Secondly, your ability to obtain coverage and immediate benefits for your current medical condition will also depend greatly on what the condition is. Is it is a severe medical condition that requires surgical correction or costly medications, you will not have much luck finding an insurance company that will take your monthly premium in exchange for shelling out lots of dollars in claims payments to pay for your medical treatment. If your condition is minor, you may find an insurance company that is willing to accept this responsibility, but they may impose restrictions or waiting periods on what they will cover. Thirdly, this depends on the state in which you reside. Some states will not allow an insurance company to place an exclusion on your health insurance policy that applies to a pre-existing condition. There are only a few states where this actually applies, California being one of those states. Most states are allowed to approve your application with an “exclusionary rider” that applies to many pre-existing medical conditions. This “rider” is essentially an amendment to the standard health insurance contract that releases the insurance company from being liable for any claims that are associated with the condition that is listed in the rider. A rider is usually placed on your policy for a specified period of time, but in more extreme cases can be a permanent rider. This means that the insurance company will never pay claims on the condition, regardless of how long you have the insurance plan. And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, this depends on if you currently have other health insurance. Most insurance companies will automatically place a 6 month waiting period on all pre-existing conditions for all new members. However, if you have had previous and continuous coverage without a lapse of more than 60 days, you may receive credit toward this waiting period for the length of time that you maintained your current or previous coverage. This does not apply to HMO plans, which by law are not allowed to impose a pre-existing condition waiting period. 1 CommentLeave a comment |
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Can I get health insurance for a pre-existing condition?
This is an impossible question to answer without additional information. Firstly, there are many different types of health insurance, including individual and family health insurance, small business health insurance, student health insurance, short-term health insurance, Medicare supplemental insurance and travel health insurance. The way in which each of these different types of health insurance plans treat pre-existing condition coverage can vary substantially.
How can we keep our insurance with a pre-existing condition when switching insurance carrier. Ok, the situation is like this. We currently have health insurance for our family from my husbands job and we have Aetna health as provider. We are satisfied with them but we also have the opportunity to go with another provider. My husband has a preexisting condition. If we change insurance company, but stay in the same job, can he still get coverage? And what if he changes job within the government but stays in government employment? What I mean is, can we stay on the same health plan if he switches jobs within the government or does it count as a new employer, and if it does will it change our possibilities? That\’s a lot of questions at once I know!
I have heard that HIPAA is for situations like this, is that right? Is there any chance that my husbands job will not be covered under HIPAA?
Comment by Nicole — June 2, 2009 @ 9:12 am