What To Do When You Get A Health Insurance Decline Notice?

Do you have group major medical insurance from an employer? If so, you are probably not that converned about your health benefits. You, and about 50% of Americans, have a group health insurance plan.

Federal rules require group policies to accept all of the employees. In addition, companies usually pay for part of the premium. If you have group medical benefits, you probably will not have any problem getting a good and affordable health insurance plan.

Here is the problem. Almost fifty percent of Americans lack group coverage. Many of these people work as self-employed professionals, contract workers, or they run small businesses. Some of these people are employed by very small businesses too. If an employer does not offer a medical plan, the employees may have to turn to an individual or family policy.

Some people are very happy with their individual policies. Younger and healthier people can usually find affordable premiums too. The issue is that individual health insurers do not have to accept every applicant, and so they decline to cover many people. They may accept some applicants for coverage who do have pre-existing conditions, but they may impose restrictions or charge more money. Buying private medical coverage is not like driving up to get your car repaired. You might be ready and willing to pay for service, but you may get turned down.

The exact underwriting rules will depend upon the company and state regulations. However, this can be a big problem for people with diabetes, high blood pressure, or another illness. It can be a problem, even if the disease or condition is well managed and the person can live a pretty healthy life.

So what do you do if you want to buy a major medical policy, but you were declined? There are alternatives for many people who get a decline notice. It is important to research these options so you have coverage when you need it.

Your first option is to find the state high risk coverage pool where you live. These plans exist in each US state, but they vary. You can search for your own state's high risk pool. You will be able to figure out if you quaify, find out how much it costs, and you can probably even apply online.

These state high risk pools have helped many people get medical coverage, but they are not perfect. In some states, the premiums are high. They also have rules, and not everybody will qualify. In addition, sometimes they impose a waiting period before some health problems are treated.

There is also a new federal high risk health pool. This is being implemented as part of US health reform. Hopefully, it will solve many of the problems with the state risk pools. You can visit the main website at hhv.gov or look for more information on your own state high risk plan website. That way you can decide if you should apply for the state or federal plan, or if either one will help you get medical coverage.

This is a huge problem for a lot of Americans. However, there are alternatives to group or individual policies. It is important to resources your options. It is always better to have coverage before you need it!


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