By Keyes McCain
Next to being the most litigious country in the world, America is perhaps also the most insurance-conscious country in the world. And there's a whole gamut of health insurance plans for people in different circumstances.
For people under certain conditions, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) officially backs the so-called guaranteed issue health insurance. Not all people can have this type of program; you have to meet certain criteria, including:
- You currently do not have any health insurance plan, or your current insurance plan will be involuntarily terminated.
- In the case of individual plans, your plan got terminated because of: (a) the insurance company's insolvency, (b) discontinuance of all of the insurer's individual plans, or (c) you no longer live in the area of the insurance provider's network.
- For the last 18 months, you have been insured by creditable coverage and your coverage has not lapsed for more than 63 days.
- Your most recent healthcare coverage was terminated NOT because of default in premiums payment, fraud, or malicious misrepresentations.
- You do not qualify for coverage under a group health plan, a conversion plan, Medicare or even Medicaid.
- You have "maxed-out" the continuation of your medical coverage including COBRA
The best time to apply for guaranteed health insurance is within 63 days after your coverage ends, or even before that. Because they are not allowed to refuse any individual, most carriers can charge twice the amount of the standard rate. A guaranteed plan may or may not cover pre-existing conditions. As always it is always best to check on the terms and conditions of the plan you're planning to buy.
Visit http://www.guaranteed-issue-health-insurance.com/ for more information.
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