Indiana Individual Health Insurance

Medical insurance is a crucial precaution that every person and every family should consider. If you are currently uninsured, looking into a Indiana individual health insurance policy is a smart choice. As an Indiana resident, you should educate yourself in the state laws and regulations that affect these individual health plans.

Eligibility: How Am I Evaluated?

Generally, a health insurer has the flexibility to decide how applications are handled and who gets accepted for a policy. Many insurers use factors such as health status, age, and lifestyle habits to decide who they will cover. There are no real regulations on why an applicant can be turned down and an insurer can deny you for almost any reason.

In fulfillment with HIPPA Group-to-Individual Portability Coverage regulations, Indiana guarantees issuance of health insurance via the Indiana Comprehensive Health Insurance Association, which manages the state?s high-risk health insurance pool, to HIPPA eligible consumers who have been unable to obtain a policy from a private provider.

Indiana Guaranteed Benefits & Pre-Existing Conditions

The state of Indiana does not require insurers to carry any standardized policies. The law does require all insurers to cover certain benefits on all plans, for every individual. These benefits include diabetic supplies and services and cancer screenings.

Pre-existing conditions are more heavily regulated in Indiana than in many other states. Under Indiana law, an insurer can exclude pre-existing conditions from your policy for up to 12 months and can look back in your medical history for up to 12 months prior to your application, to determine what will count as a pre-existing condition. Insurers may not impose eliminations riders in Indiana on your individual health insurance policy, but they can impose a waiver on the policy. With a waiver, an insurer can exclude a pre-existing condition from your policy for up to 10 years, but they can only impose 2 waivers per person.

Indiana Individual Health Insurance Premiums

What you are charged for a individual health insurance policy in Indiana is up to the insurer, as there are no limits under Indiana law on how much you can be charged for a policy. Factors that many insurers take into consideration include age, health status, plan type, and family size. Insurers can use any of these factors to quote you a higher premium rate. The good news is that when it is time to renew, the insurer must take the claims experience of the entire group into consideration and spread out the risk evenly, rather than basing your renewal rates on your claims experience alone. Additionally, an insurer also cannot deny your renewal based on your claims experience, so you won?t pay extra nor be denied a policy just because you get sick.