How do you get health insurance with a pre exisisting condition?

Question

The company I work for does not offer insurance but will pay for an individual plan. I have a bone disease and walk with crutches but have not needed any medical treatment for this for over 15 years. However, I am still denied for an individual policy. I live in Ohio and need some advice here.

Answer 1

I don't know if Ohio has a state sponsored high risk plan - I suspect not - but if not, you can't get insurance.

I'd go to your employer, and tell them you're not eligible for coverage due to pre-existing conditions - and ask them to throw that $300 a month into your paycheck instead.

I'd ALSO seriously think about switching jobs. Yes, any group plan will exclude your condition for 18 months, but cover other stuff - and after the 18 months, you've got regular coverage, including the bone disease.

Answer 2

I don't see how a company can pay for an individual plan, yet not otherwise carry insurance. Regardless of the size of the company, this is fiscally irresponsible.

Also, if you have not required medical treatment for 15 years, does that mean that you have not seen a doctor in all that time? If not, how do you know that there isn't a treatment that could have helped you, 10 years ago???

Regardless, if you have had any kind of health insurance, including COBRA, over the past year or so, then you should request a "Continuation of Health Coverage" letter from that insurer, and then present it to the prospective, new insurer. The new insurer will (or should) contact that company to find out what kind of risk you are (they cannot obtain specific information without your consent, which you should give, freely). You may have to pay higher premiums or have a higher deductible, but, hopefully, it shouldn't be an issue.

If not, then there are many legitimate "high risk" health insurers out there. I don't like to advertise companies, so just do a websearch on "health insurance", or find a given insurance company's website (many have health insurance options). The huge advantage in doing it this way, instead of going through your employer, is that the insurance is "yours" until you stop paying the premiums (BTW, I had a HUGE problem with a health provider, who nearly took me to court when I stopped paying premiums, because I simply didn't want to use it! BIG mistake! If I had simply phoned them and told them to "cancel" it, I probably would have faced a ritualized begging session to stay onboard, but, ultimately, the insurance would have been "cleanly" cancelled. Fortunately, I had enough knowledge of the law to stop their harrassment (they called my home nearly 10 times a day). Needless to say, I'll never go through them again, even if it was my fault!).

Conversely, if you have not had any major medical payments in the past year or so, many insurers do not consider that a "risk", and, as such, you may honestly omit it (keep in mind that simple being "disabled" cannot be used against you; it is a violation of Federal law to be rejected from employment or insurance for that reason). However, if there is a specific question concerning your particular health condition, don't lie, or you may be denied coverage should something related to your condition causes you to be hospitalized. On the other hand, any lawyer would say that if the insurer accepted your
premiums, then they, in essence, have accepted you, regardless of your condition (i.e., it was up to them to do any research that may have resulted in your being denied the insurance), so they cannot reject you, now (nothing can prevent them from raising your rates or deductions, though!).

The links, below, are from specific insurers, but I have included them for their content, not their specific company.

If all else fails, consider contacting an attorney specializing in health insurance, but I don't think it'll come to that (enter "attorneys in ohio specializing in health insurance" without the double quotes into your favorite search engine).

Answer 3

What I have is a Health Discount Plan. Ongoing conditions don't matter with this plan. Type www.discounthealthinfo.com into your address bar, this will take you to a website that will explain the plan to you.

Jeff

Answer 4

You can see if any of the companies on this site will accept you

http://lowcost-healthinsurance.org/

you can often get pretty decent rates there.