short-term insurance plan make it.......

[thomking]

Will purchasing a short-term insurance plan make it harder for me to get coverage in the future for a pre-existing medical condition?
suggestions will be appreciated!
thanks in advance.

[theworm[$]]

I'm not an expert, but I believe that if you're buying an individual plan they're horrible regarding pre-existing conditions. I know that my group plan is great, but that if I had to get an individual plan it would be hard. I don't think the short-term plan would make much difference - unless you haven't had the pre-existing condition diagnosed yet.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

I don't think it will hurt your chances in the future, because your chances are pretty much nil already that a future plan will cover a pre-existing condition if you haven't had a policy with them before.

[jgibson2[$]]

HIPPA -- That translates to the Health Insurance Privacy and PORTABILITY Act.

What that means is that as long as you are continuously insured, there is no such thing as a pre-existing condition for group plans. Group plans have to accept you as-is. That's the good news.

The bad news is that if you have a previously diagnosed pre-existing condition, individual insurers are allowed to charge higher rates or turn you down altogether.

How do I know this? I have 2 adult sons who have had to COBRA their benefits until they could get new group insurance due to pre-existing conditions which individual insurers didn't want to cover.

My recommendation is that you price short-term plans that WILL cover any pre-existing conditions. If you can find something affordable, it won't hurt you to take it. It MUST cover those pre-existing conditions or it's worthless to you in the long term.

You should also price continuing your insurance from your current coverage -- under the COBRA act. You can continue your insurance exactly as it currently exists for a little more than the current group rate. They typically charge less than $10/month as a handling fee and they are required to permit you to continue your insurance for 18 months.

If you work for a company that is self-insured, then never mind, because I don't know the rules for that.

[thinkerlady[$]]

Judy, that isn't so for us. Our daughter will be dropped from our plan as of the end of this month--since she graduates from college. She begins work the middle of June, and will be insured day 1 at her new company. We looked into COBRA for the interim and it was VERY expensive, more than twice our present monthly premium, and that was for just one month. To insure her under COBRA it will be over $500. per month. That is considerably higher than our present monthly premium.
We are looking into private insurance for the interim, but haven't secured anything yet. I hope we can find something because I really don't want to pay the COBRA. But...she needs to be covered nonetheless.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

If the company is self-insured, they do not have to comply with COBRA

mj
who worked for a self-insured company

[jgibson2[$]]

Thinkerlady,
The problem is that you have to pay the actual premium -- not just your portion of it. Really sucks.

The rules allow you to actually be uninsured for up to 5 weeks -- unless that's changed -- and the pre-existing conditions aren't a problem. The big problem is if you get sick or hurt during the brief time you're uninsured. $500 is a lot of money, but my sons both managed to need their insurance while on COBRA.

I'm not sure, but that may mean she could have some relatively inexpensive interim insurance that didn't cover any pre-existing conditions and still be OK with the insurance at her new job. The HR people will probably know.

[pippadaisy[$]]

Honestly? My $0.02 is that with the medical issues MissyRissy has had in the past year, you are most likely safest with the COBRA. It seems like a lot, but better to be safe than sorry.

[phoenixx]

Pay the $500. That's chump change compared to all the what ifs in between coverage, especially in light of her past year of medical issues. Take it from me, that accident happened while I was being cheap and shopping around for a better deal. It's costing me THOUSANDS for ONE medical mishap. I should have ponied up.

[thinkerlady[$]]

It boils down to 2 weeks. 11 days to be exact. The docs don't consider her problems of the past any indicator to the future, but one never knows. She doesn't have anything that could be pre existing--just a recent history. Auto insurance stays in tact until we remove her from our policy, it is just the damn medical.

Judy--I guess you are right. It would be the $500, plus our normal portion of the premium --which I think is over $200. We have a "family" plan, and dropping her doesn't change the amount we pay.

[frazzledspice]

Wow, what a loophole in the COBRA plan! More and more big companies are becoming self-insured. My hubby's company is self-insured, but their plan is administered through an insurance company, and it does offer COBRA.

So much of what happens in insurance is based on the state you're in.

Some states (NY, for example) have community ranking. As I understand it, your premiums will be based on a cross-section of your community and not your own pre-existing conditions.

The northeastern states are generally the best for hard-to-insure people (at least that's what AARP Magazine, I think, said.) Massachusetts, which mandated health coverage, has had many insurers come to their state with many different plans.

But even Massachusetts has a loophole. If you're poor they will subsidize your insurance. If you're middle class and the only insurance you can get is unaffordable, they give you an exemption. You don't need to get insurance! Well, duh, what's the point of that?

When my son was between college and first job, I was able to get him a bridge plan which was very cheap, but it was only good for six months and couldn't be renewed at the same rate.

And that was a number of years ago.

[pippadaisy[$]]

Angie, you also don't know what the insurance will consider pre-existing. I had problems when I was pregnant with Beanie... I developed pre-eclampsia and it wasn't covered under the "extra" policy because they considered pregnancy a pre-existing condition.

They could consider any of MissyRissy's recent history a "pre-existing" condition depending on their mood that day.

[thinkerlady[$]]

True Pippa--I am still ambivalent over what to do. Hubby says he thinks he found a plan, we have to take it for a month $150.00 is the premium. High co-pay, and high deductible--but it is a cushion to gamble on. We still have a week to decide what to do.