What to know about individual health insurance comes down to realizing that there is a difference between traditional group health insurance plans and the health policy purchased by a single person. Group plans are usually only available through an employer, and the strength of numbers that an employer brings to an insurer will always result in a lower rate than one can get on his own.
Instances when an individual policy may need to be purchased generally revolve around when a person leaves a job and loses the group coverage that is a benefit of that job, to name just one. Such individual plans are purchased through the private marketplace and not paid for through an employer. Individual plans, despite their names, can also cover a spouse and any dependent children.
Another thing to keep in mind is that health insurers are under no obligation in many cases to extend a policy to just anyone who walks up and asks for it. Mainly, it has to do with what the industry calls medical underwriting, which is usually nothing more than looking at any underlying medical conditions and then making a decision about whether to extend insurance.
Medical underwriting has been a cause of people being rejected for individual insurance because it looks at pre-existing conditions, and an insurer may not decide to extend that policy or will underwrite a policy but with certain preclusions or exclusions. Some states, however, mandate guaranteed issuance regardless of condition, which means an insurer must extend a policy.
Normally, an individual insurance plan premium will cost more than the same insurance plan purchased through a group rate. One reason for this is that insurers look at what they might have to pay out in terms of health coverage costs over the length of the policy. Because of this, someone who is a bit older or not in the greatest of health (or both) can expect to be charged more.
Some states allow those people who are in business for themselves or are self-employed and are calling themselves sole proprietors and the like to purchase insurance as what the industry calls a “group of one” purchaser. This means insurance can be gotten at a group rate when certain criteria are met. Check the Internet for such insurance plans and rates before deciding on any particular policy.
Learn more about Health Insurance. Stop by Samantha Malone’s site where you can find out all about individual health care and what it can do for you.
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