Buying health insurance as part of a group plan when you're fully employed is normally at a lower rate than independent coverage. If you're between jobs, and can not continue with your former plan, a new group health plan may not be an option. If you decide to work as an independent consultant between full-time jobs, you'll notice a sharp rate increase if/when you buy individual health insurance coverage.
While individual health insurance plans are purchased directly from carriers, leaving out the employer middle man, they do not offer the fuller range of benefits and lower rates associated with the typical workplace group plan. However, individual plans may cover you, your spouse, and your children. The two other main methods to get an individual health insurance plan when you're not fully employed with a group health plan are to obtain either "short-term" and/or "catastrophic" coverage.
"Medically underwritten" individual plans allow the insurer to reject your application or attach exclusions to your policy if you have a "prior existing condition". So there is no guarantee that an insurer will accept you for an individual policy. Under "Guaranteed Issue" laws, some states require that health insurance carriers issue you a policy, no matter what medical problems you have. Do your homework and check the list of "Guaranteed Issue" laws for your state. The Kaiser Family Foundation has published a list of these laws.
Individual plan buyers pay premiums determined by their "expected" health care costs, so prices will be higher as they grow older and/or less healthy. But don't let any confusion tempt you to go without health insurance. Healthy or not, you could have a serious accident, and, as many others are, be forced into "medical bankruptcy."
Keep in mind, if you go without insurance for 63 days or more, a time period set by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), you'll lose your rights to coverage of pre-existing conditions.
Already sick with a "pre-existing condition"? If you're uninsured, it may seem to be impossible or too costly to buy health insurance. But there are practical ways you may be able to get coverage This will require researching a few basic situations.
Remember to do your homework, because in some states, the self-employed, sole proprietor can be eligible to buy health insurance as a "group of one" - even a home-based businessperson - just as long as you've been in business for at least 30 days.
If the state in which you live does not offer these "group of one" insurance policies, you may still qualify for a group rate if you own a business and have at least one partner or employee. Is your spouse helping you with your home-based business? Then you qualify as a two-person business, and are eligible for a group rate and a group policy.
Before planning to leave an employer with which you have a group health plan, call and inquire as to whether their insurance carrier can convert it to an individual health plan for you. Even though the rate will be higher than your employer's group plan, it's your best option, for the time being, to secure health insurance. This is most important for those with existing medical conditions. Also inquire as to whether your spouse has a group plan at their work, and if they can add you on.
While individual health insurance plans are purchased directly from carriers, leaving out the employer middle man, they do not offer the fuller range of benefits and lower rates associated with the typical workplace group plan. However, individual plans may cover you, your spouse, and your children. The two other main methods to get an individual health insurance plan when you're not fully employed with a group health plan are to obtain either "short-term" and/or "catastrophic" coverage.
"Medically underwritten" individual plans allow the insurer to reject your application or attach exclusions to your policy if you have a "prior existing condition". So there is no guarantee that an insurer will accept you for an individual policy. Under "Guaranteed Issue" laws, some states require that health insurance carriers issue you a policy, no matter what medical problems you have. Do your homework and check the list of "Guaranteed Issue" laws for your state. The Kaiser Family Foundation has published a list of these laws.
Individual plan buyers pay premiums determined by their "expected" health care costs, so prices will be higher as they grow older and/or less healthy. But don't let any confusion tempt you to go without health insurance. Healthy or not, you could have a serious accident, and, as many others are, be forced into "medical bankruptcy."
Keep in mind, if you go without insurance for 63 days or more, a time period set by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), you'll lose your rights to coverage of pre-existing conditions.
Already sick with a "pre-existing condition"? If you're uninsured, it may seem to be impossible or too costly to buy health insurance. But there are practical ways you may be able to get coverage This will require researching a few basic situations.
Remember to do your homework, because in some states, the self-employed, sole proprietor can be eligible to buy health insurance as a "group of one" - even a home-based businessperson - just as long as you've been in business for at least 30 days.
If the state in which you live does not offer these "group of one" insurance policies, you may still qualify for a group rate if you own a business and have at least one partner or employee. Is your spouse helping you with your home-based business? Then you qualify as a two-person business, and are eligible for a group rate and a group policy.
Before planning to leave an employer with which you have a group health plan, call and inquire as to whether their insurance carrier can convert it to an individual health plan for you. Even though the rate will be higher than your employer's group plan, it's your best option, for the time being, to secure health insurance. This is most important for those with existing medical conditions. Also inquire as to whether your spouse has a group plan at their work, and if they can add you on.
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