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 Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 5:26 pm Post subject: Chronic illness |
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| My friend has been diagnosed with a chronic illness, can he receive health insurance by this condition ? Will it cost more for him ? |
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lucy77
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| Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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I am not a expert but I do know it is according to what state you live in. In states like NY insurance companies have to offer you health insurance no matter what. Unfortunately I believe in most states insurance companies can reject you for basically having a hang nail. You then can go into some special insurance pool which is pretty expensive with massive co pays. Now if you friend can be eligible for Social Security Disability, the federal program not the state program then he can get Medicare Advantage which is pretty good. But he can only look intot if the chronic illness keeps him from working.
Now another factor is what type of chronic illness is it. If it kidney disease and he needs dialysis there is a special program for that. But that is all the program will take care of. |
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Marbleann
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| Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:57 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | In states like NY insurance companies have to offer you health insurance no matter what. |
So, the state of New York follows a law of somewhat guarateed issue for health insurance. Can you share more about this program with us? |
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kelvin
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| Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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Hi marble ann..
It gets us a feeling that in NY the carrier has to cover every individual irrespective of bearing any pre-existing health conditions.
If its like that, then the insurance co. would certainly need to bear an extra cost. I say this since they'd be covering more risks and this in turn would increase the probability of claims getting filed.
What do you think! Circus_Jones
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Circus_Jones
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| Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:56 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Yes a few states in this country offer guaranteed insurance if you want it. It is no special program it is just a law. I believe Vermont and some other states mostly in the east offer it. So no matter how ill you are if you want insurance the insurance companies cannot reject you. Here is a link.
http://www.insurancecompanyrules.org/pages/newyork_rules/ |
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Marbleann
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| Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Frankly it is surprising that health insurance companies have not pulled out in masse in NY but they haven't. Yes they must be baring extra costs but because of what happened in NY state I have to think the costs are not what they insurance companies want us to believe. Now I worked for the MTA and we did not even have money taken out of our paycheck for health insurance. Newer employees have to but it s not much. I would love to see how come the insurance companies have not left the state. I believe Jersey has the same policy but I am not sure. |
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Marbleann
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| Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:41 pm Post subject: Re: Chronic illness |
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I am not a critical illness expert but I do remember that sometime ago there was a campaign to encourage people to take out critical illness insurance cover. Policies could be found at places like http://www.onlyinsurance.com/Life-Insurance/Critical-illness-insurance -explained.aspx which should be enough protection for one at a time of extreme need.
Lucy, your friend's case is quite different in that they are already with a medical condition. But to know how much it will take to get a policy for them will depend on where they go to for help and what the insurer may consider. But I wish your friend luck and a strong fighting spirit. |
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moses
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| Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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I can say that Maine, Massachusetts, NY, New Jersey and Vermont are the only states that have laws which prohibit companies from denying coverage to anyone. But some states have alternatives. Here is the link. I hope this helps your friend.
http://www.insurancecompanyrules.org/pages/rules_map |
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Marbleann
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:12 pm Post subject: |
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Marble, even if we assume that its not costing the insurance companies much to offer health coverage to everyone, but isn't this policy affecting the rates of the healthy population of the state?
Difinitely the insurance companies won't pull out since they are not spending money from their pocket, but shifting the the cost to the health insurance buyers. Think you might have paid extra for your sick neighbor. I really wonder whether this is justified. |
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kelvin
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:25 pm Post subject: |
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| See I do not mind paying extra if everybody has health coverage. What is more expensive us paying for people using ER's as a doctor and having people getting sicker then they should be because of lack of health care and then having to pay for them or paying extra so everybody has good accessible care? In NY how could have health care for be effecting the health of the populace detrimentally? it certainly is much better then where I live at now, Texas which is like a backwater state who only cares about the big wig insurance companies and their bottom line and not the people who live here. |
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Marbleann
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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Guaranteed issue health insurance won't work unless everybody has to buy health insurance. Why would a young healthy person who rarely sees a doctor buy health insurance? Instead, they would wait until they get sick.
For a healthy person, why is group coverage so much more expensive than underwritten individual coverage? With group coverage, the group is made up of healthy and unhealthy people. With individual coverage, the person is in a pool of just healthy people. |
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InsuranceExpert
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | My friend has been diagnosed with a chronic illness, can he receive health insurance by this condition ? Will it cost more for him ? |
Yes, he can receive health insurance. If it's part of a group, the cost will be the same as everyone else. If he's getting individual coverage, it will probably be more expensive. In some states, it won't be more expensive, but pre-existing conditions could curtail benefits. |
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InsuranceExpert
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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| The problem is that a healthy person can become unhealthy in a second if they are in a accident or catch something. That is why it is just expensive for them. So one cannot just assume if one is healthy they would never have a catastrophic illness happen and then what happens? And no one unless they are well off can afford to pay out of their pocket for a accidents. I am healthy but I had a car accident and my medical bills are in access of 200,000 and growing. My health insurance is paying for that. Who wants to get sick or in accident and has to worry about how to pay for a bill in the hundreds of thousands. Frankly even people who are not that healthy use health benefits that much. One of the reasons they are not that healthy. if a person looks in shape doesn't mean they are,. And unless they had health benefits they would not be able to get proper maintenance tests to see if they are. Unless they want to pay for through the nose. Another point in why wait until you get sick to get insurance? In many states you cannot even get insurance if you are sick. It is just not prudent not to have health insurance no matter how healthy you maybe. It makes no sense. Most people do not have house fires nor any incident with their houses, but most homeowners buy homeowners insurance even after their mortgages are paid. This was the first car accident I have had in 30 years but I still have to buy auto insurance no matter what. So why do you think having health insurance should be any different? The chances of a healthy person getting sick are far better then a house catching on fire or getting in a car accident. That is the reason the costs are not so different. If you don't believe that just see how many healthy people are in the hospital with Pneumonia or with a broken limb from skiing or falling over something or coming down with the Flu or Hepatitis because of some cook in a restaurant. I know of a person who took a trip somewhere and came back with a bug, he still is sick . Or healthy people who come down with cancer. Or what about people having babies? It is very expensive to have babies. And god forbid something is wrong. We cannot be so short sighted when it comes to health and staying healthy. |
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Marbleann
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:50 pm Post subject: |
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You are missing my point. I agree that people should have health insurance. My point is that guaranteed issue health insurance is a problem because it provides disincentive to buy coverage before it is actually needed. Isn't a young healthy person more likely to not buy insurance if they can simply wait until they are sick to buy it?
Guaranteed issue coverage that is not mandatory for everyone makes the premiums more expensive for everybody who elects to get coverage. |
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InsuranceExpert
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:59 pm Post subject: |
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But the problem is a very healthy person can get very sick or sicker in a drop of a hat because of accidents or catching a illness. Secondly after or when they get sick it is too late to get insurance in most states. And lastly the simple fact is healthy people lacking health insurance makes them high risk. So they should pay the same rates IMO.
One question if you believe that healthy people should not pay as much as everyone else do you believe if a healthy person indulges in high risks sports like skiing or hang gliding or jet skiing and mountain climbing etc. should they pay as much as everyone else? |
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Marbleann
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