Chronic illness

by lucy77 » Mon Apr 20, 2009 05:26 pm
Posts: 21
Joined: 14 Apr 2009

My friend has been diagnosed with a chronic illness, can he receive health insurance by this condition ? Will it cost more for him ?

Total Comments: 16

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:59 pm Post Subject:

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.

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 08:57 am Post Subject:

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?

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 02:46 pm Post Subject:

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

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 07:56 pm Post Subject:

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/

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 08:06 pm Post Subject:

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.

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 08:41 pm Post Subject: Re: Chronic illness

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.

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 09:16 pm Post Subject:

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

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:12 pm Post Subject:

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.

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 05:25 pm Post Subject:

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.

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 07:35 pm Post Subject:

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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