Health Insurance Articles
How A Lapse In Coverage Affects Your Health Insurance Options
2011-03-29
Health insurance is a hot topic these days. Everyone wants to know what will happen with health insurance options and coverage over the next few years. Although no one is certain how things will turn out in the health insurance industry, there are a few things that are important to remember when you consider what to do with your personal health insurance to prevent a lapse in coverage.
If you currently have health insurance but are not satisfied with coverage, cost or health insurance options available to you, do not simply let the policy lapse. A lapse in coverage can cause you to end up paying more for less coverage. It can also end up leaving you with no good health insurance options. It may seem like a good way to save money when your budget is tight and you are a relatively healthy person, but once you have let a lapse in coverage occur, it may be difficult to obtain reasonable health insurance coverage.
If you are laid off, fired or quit your job and had your health insurance coverage through a group plan from your place of employment, by law the company is required to give you the option of continuing your health insurance coverage through COBRA. You will have to pay the full cost of the insurance and perhaps a little more to cover administrative costs, but it is wise to carry the COBRA insurance until you have acquired another health insurance plan. COBRA allows you to have insurance without a lapse in coverage. This is important for several reasons.
If you have any pre-existing conditions, most insurance companies will refuse to cover them if you have had more than a 63-day lapse in coverage. Obtaining new health insurance can often involve a long process of questions and answers that could stretch out beyond 63 days. Keeping your current insurance or using COBRA will ensure that you do not have a lapse in coverage.
If you do experience a lapse in coverage that stretches beyond the 63 days, your health insurance options may become limited and you may not be able to acquire insurance that will cover any pre-existing conditions. This can be frustrating for those who rarely go to the doctor except for check ups for an existing condition.
It is best to keep your health insurance options open by avoiding any prolonged lapse in coverage. If new policies impose a specific waiting period for certain conditions to be covered, this period of time will be shortened by the length of time that you have had your previous policy. This will quite often remove the waiting period altogether upon proof of your coverage inception date.
