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What to Do If You Were Turned Down For Health Insurance
If you've been living without health insurance, you're not alone. 15.9 percent of all Americans are uninsured as reported by the UHF (United Health Foundation). Sadly, sometimes even when people are trying to be financially and socially responsible they'll find that they're unable to qualify for a health insurance policy.
According to survey by U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 60 percent of the population gets health insurance in the form of group policies through their employer. There are other people who get covered by government-sponsored health care, such as children, the elderly, and those with low incomes. Until recently, however, those outside of these groups were largely at the mercy of the policies of for-profit insurance companies when it came to whether they could get coverage.
If initially turned down, ask again or apply with another insurance provider
If you find that you're in this group that has difficulty getting coverage, the first thing you should do is to try to find out what happened. In some cases, you may be rejected due to an error on the part of the company. If the reasons for your rejection were minor, you may also still be able to get individual insurance through another company. However, if you have a major pre-existing condition such as Cancer or Diabetes, it's unlikely that any insurance company will consider you a good risk and you'll have to seek out other options.
State high risk health insurance pools as an option
It is for this reason that a national high-risk insurance pool will be created within 90 days following the passage of the March 2010 Health Care Reform Act for people with existing medical conditions. The pool is backed by $5 billion in federal subsidies, and will offer subsidized premiums to people who have been uninsured for at least six months and have medical problems that have resulted in their being rejected from other insurance options. In some cases these risk pools will be run through the state governments. Either way, the law says that these pools will remain available until the new health care reforms have fully taken effect in 2014.
Prior to this legislation, high risk pools were already available in 34 states and covered 183,000 citizens. From the perspective of someone who wants a policy, the important thing to note is that the quality of coverage offered can vary widely depending on the attitude and policies of the state offering them. Some states are just more generous than others in programs like this, and if you believe that you're likely to need to use your health care policy regularly, it'll be worth your while to get a sense of the kind of coverage that your state offers. You should also remember that even though you'll already be paying higher premiums than a typical insurance plan, you'll still have to make sure you have enough money in reserve to cover deductibles and co-payments or health care will be as unattainable to you as ever.
In extreme cases, if you find your state's high risk pool to be a completely unacceptable option, you still have choices but none of them are easy. If you've been working at running your own business or at a small business, you may be able to get into a group plan if you can find employment at a large company. In an extreme case, if you know that another state offers a high risk pool option that would work for you, and you have the means to do it (such as family in that area), you could even consider relocating.
