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.

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.

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.

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


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.

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.

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