I have no health care insurance.  Spent several thousand dollars cash over the past five months due to CH cycle for medical providers, medications and o2.

Just out of curiosity of how much a policy would cost me, I anonymously called a major health care insurance provider today and inquired of different policies, rates, etc.

They asked me several basic health-related questions and I remained anonymous.  They told me that due to my recent CH cycle, if I were to need medical treatment for CH's I would not be covered for at last two years as it is a pre-existing condition.

How many of you have run into the challenge of obtaining health insurance coverage with CH's as a pre-existing condition?

Any helpful hints of obtaining health insurance coverage with pre-existing conditions and having those pre-existing conditions covered?

The easy answer is to not tell them about any CH history.  However insurance companies use several methods to investigate one's medical history and once they find out that you failed to share on your application; they deny payment of claims, cancel policies and/or increase rates.

Please share your personal experiences/advice of obtaining health insurance with CH's as a pre-existing condition.

-Gregg in Las Vegas

Electronic health records, EHRs, refers to a government-promoted technological system that allows health care providers to consolidate, store, retrieve and share medical information about an individual’s entire medical history. EHRs, with the goal of eventually making paper records obsolete, are endorsed as a way to save money and reduce medical errors. >:(

Yep........... Gotta admit as a small business owner with of course a CH history, getting insurance at an affordable rate is near IMPOSSIBLE!! >:( Fortunately for me I'm able to get through wifey's work  now. But when that wasn't the case it was all out of pocket. I found that when I needed something, I would just go to an urgent care and go out of pocket which was much cheeper than the ridiculous premiums the insurance Co's. wanted for basically catastrophic ins which would do nothing to cover my CH expense....... I do feel for those of you who can not even afford to do that.

Rick

Rick

I had the exact same problem, Marc, but all the same circumstances happened pre-Bamacare, which I think passed less than two years ago, April 2010. 

Company outsourced 08/2007, I did the COBRA thing, which continues coverage I paid for eighteen months and issues a Certificate of Prior Health Coverage.

It states directly on it: "This certificate provides evidence of your coverage under this plan.  Under a federal law known a HIPAA, you may need evidence of your coverage to reduce a pre-existing condition exclusion period under another plan, to help you get special enrollment in another plan, or to get certain types of individual health coverage even if you have health problems.  Should you enroll in a new Group Health Plan that applies a pre-existing condition exclusion, you will need to present a copy of this certification as proof of prior coverage."

The back of the certificate has all kinds of HIPAA portability rights that state I am an "eligible individual" (which can be shown by this certificate) and have a right to buy certain individual health policies without a preexisting condition exclusion.

The COBRA coverage stop date was 03/01/09.

I applied for a health insurance prior to that date and for 63 days after, the period considered continuous coverage. Three major insurance companies refused to cover me as well as two other smaller companies.  Mentioning the certificate didn't mean a thing.  Silly me, I thought the document was worth the paper it's written on.


I found a new job with group insurance not as good as my old plan, just more expensive.


One thing I noticed on the back of the certificate: "A preexisting condition exclusion can apply only to conditions for which medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment was recommended or received within the 6 months before your enrollment date."

This muddies things up because I'm not sure I understand what that means, but just guessing, I might only offer up 6 months worth of health information.

I remember they usually asked for a longer medical history. 



I eventually found out, through reading some finer print, I am ineligible for all of the above statements made on the certificate if I was eligible for COBRA or used COBRA.         oh.

Kevin_M wrote on Jan 8^th, 2012 at 3:23am:

I had the exact same problem, Marc, but all the same circumstances happened pre-Bamacare, which I think passed less than two years ago, April 2010.  Company outsourced 08/2007, I did the COBRA thing, which continues coverage I paid for eighteen months and issues a Certificate of Prior Health Coverage. It states directly on it: "This certificate provides evidence of your coverage under this plan.  Under a federal law known a HIPAA, you may need evidence of your coverage to reduce a pre-existing condition exclusion period under another plan, to help you get special enrollment in another plan, or to get certain types of individual health coverage even if you have health problems.  Should you enroll in a new Group Health Plan that applies a pre-existing condition exclusion, you will need to present a copy of this certification as proof of prior coverage." The back of the certificate has all kinds of HIPAA portability rights that state I am an "eligible individual" (which can be shown by this certificate) and have a right to buy certain individual health policies without a preexisting condition exclusion. The COBRA coverage stop date was 03/01/09. I applied for a health insurance prior to that date and for 63 days after, the period considered continuous coverage. Three major insurance companies refused to cover me as well as two other smaller companies.  Mentioning the certificate didn't mean a thing.  Silly me, I thought the document was worth the paper it's written on. I found a new job with group insurance not as good as my old plan, just more expensive. One thing I noticed on the back of the certificate: "A preexisting condition exclusion can apply only to conditions for which medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment was recommended or received within the 6 months before your enrollment date." This muddies things up because I'm not sure I understand what that means, but just guessing, I might only offer up 6 months worth of health information. I remember they usually asked for a longer medical history.  I eventually found out, through reading some finer print, I am ineligible for all of the above statements made on the certificate if I was eligible for COBRA or used COBRA.         oh.

Happy New Year Kevin, ;)
After reading this, my interpretations of this six month stipulation is that if you have received any medical treatment between the enrollment date and 6 months before you enrolled; those medical conditions would be considered a pre-existing condition and not covered.

As for six months and older, those medical conditions would be covered; according to the six month stipulation you noted.  So if my interpretation of this policy is correct as noted above, I believe any medical history you share from your past would not affect your policy in regards to a pre-existing condition.

As for you not giving up medical history, please read above post I noted about EHR's.  "You can run, but you can't hide."

In other words, EHR's is "Big Brother." To avoid a denial of claim or approval of policy, it might be in your best interest just to be honest as they will find out regardless because of EHR's :(

-Gregg in Las Vegas

This is not medically recommended, but one thought htat might be possible to avoid pre-existing conditions from showing up would be to "go off the grid" so to say.

Only for those who who are "Veteran Ch'ers" that truly understand what it takes to get through a cycle and without other medical issues that may interfere....

Use welders o2 = no medical track record.

Stockpile transitional, preventive and abortive meds and use them next cycles without getting new scripts filled = no doctor visit, no pharmacy visit, no medical track record.

Pay cash for meds in Mexico without required script = no doctor visit, no pharmacy visit, no medical track record.

Of course self administering can be dangerous experimenting dosages and med types and also possibly lethal and is not advised by me, but am sharing a thought of how a CH'er could potentially go a couple years (customary timeframe for pre-exisitng condition) without any medical track record.

After a couple years of doing it this way and exceeding the timeframe stipulation for pre-existing condition by an insurance company, you apply for a policy, you answer no to anything remotely related to CH's and there will be no medical track record when they investigate your medical history.

Just a thought, but again not wise for somebody lacking confidence of their CH's.

LasVegas wrote on Jan 8^th, 2012 at 2:38pm:

As for you not giving up medical history, ...

I always did, but it seems any reason can be found for refusal.

A high school friend became a dermatologist and I saw him fifteen years ago to suggest something for dry hands during the winter.  We talked and he offered to remove a small mole little bigger than a freckle to be safe because it was darker colored and he'd check to see it was getting feet, as he put it.  Sure.  It was benign, but that was the reason for refusal by one company. 

Might think it would be a safer bet healthwise having it removed.  I thought so.  Apparently I'm more of a risk now than if I neglected it.


Good thing there's no medical record of my razor nicks from shaving.

Kevin_M wrote on Jan 8^th, 2012 at 4:29pm:

LasVegas wrote on Jan 8th, 2012 at 2:38pm: As for you not giving up medical history, ... I always did, but it seems any reason can be found for refusal. A high school friend became a dermatologist and I saw him fifteen years ago to suggest something for dry hands during the winter.  We talked and he offered to remove a small mole little bigger than a freckle to be safe because it was darker colored and he'd check to see it was getting feet, as he put it.  Sure.  It was benign, but that was the reason for refusal by one company.  Might think it would be a safer bet healthwise having it removed.  I thought so.  Apparently I'm more of a risk now than if I neglected it. Good thing there's no medical record of my razor nicks from shaving.

I wouldn't put it past our Big Brother EHR's to associate using til foil and cancer, thus tracking your debit/credit card purchase from Target seeing you bought tin foil and denying coverage until one confirmed they did not have cancer.

...I have four "pre-existing" conditions. To date..it has cost the insurance companies >$150,000...but ONLY because I had employer sponsored coverage. Without that...it would have been my dime.

While I have NO regard for the souless denizens of this industry...it is a business...and they are damned determined to cut such as me OUT. Does anyone think...pre...post..or during health care reform...that I'm not on my own?

56 now....hanging on to this job like a dog on a bone...won't be too much longer I can....and it's too many years til Medicare. I'll be one of those bankrupted by health problems...and there aint nothing I can do bout it...

It aint the gummints fault, it aint the healthcare fugs fault, it aint nobody's fault...but there I am and I dunno what to do...

Best,

Jon

Good health insurance companies are hard to find nowadays. but maybe you could try some the Health insurance companies that would be able to help you on your budget and premium.

You are paying too much!

try to look on this companies that i have search. I think they will help you on your pre-condition health problems. START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

I'm not going on record here, but my daughter is in the health care industry and as much as anyone understands Obamacare, she tells me that in 2014 companies will no longer be able to use preexisting conditions to turn down a client. Anyone know more? lance