Two weeks after "Cover the Uninsured Week" MedSave.com releases a state-by-state resource chart designed to help online shoppers find health insurance for difficult situations.
(PRWEB) June 9, 2004 -- Finding affordable health insurance can be difficult for people with specific medical conditions or other concerns flagged by most heath insurance companies. Most of these individuals who need fast affordable coverage will keep the policy for a year or less. Limited term coverage and limited benefit health insurance are attractive options available at only a fraction of the cost of other health insurance plans. Most low cost health insurance plans exclude certain individuals from eligibility so these potential members find themselves searching the Web to try to find a suitable health insurance plan. Regrettably many wind up enrolling in health plans that are too good to be true, and are really little more than online marketing scams. (Other articles by the author on health plan scams may be found at www.tonynovak.com ). MedSave.com provides state-by-state resource listings of many low cost / high quality health insurance plans.
This article focuses on a few specialty health insurance plans available in four common types of difficult situations:
1. Applicant who is overweight, diabetic, has high cholesterol or high blood pressure
2. Applicant is not a U.S. citizen
3. Applicant needs insurance coverage for a pre-existing medical condition
4. Immediate proof of coverage and ID card are required
While there may be more than one insurance company available to cover each situation, this chart is limited to the preferred choice in each situation. Preferences are based on quality of coverage, price and ease of online application. In some cases no suitable health insurance carrier is available. Each of the companies listed has established a reputation for providing quality service and secure online enrollment. Most of these policies have a maximum length of coverage per policy, but you may re-enroll for another policy (except in CO, GA, and MN) to continue coverage for longer period of time.
A few notes about using the products referred to in this table: Assurant" refers to Assurant Health, formerly known as Fortis Health and John Alden Insurance, the largest U.S. provider of specialty medical insurance. TIG uses an online pricing system that redirects some users to less expensive coverage that might not offer as liberal eligibility standards. If this happens, it will be necessary to contact the benefit enroller or use a mail-in application. Basic Health Insurance, as the name implies, provides only limited benefits. Whenever possible, it is wise to combine this with other insurance.
As a last resort, each state has at least open enrollment health plan available to all residents. Information is available through the state insurance department. (Contact information is available for each state at www.MedSave.com). This state-mandated open enrollment plan might be very expensive so it makes sense to exhaust all other possibilities first. These state-mandated open enrollment insurance plans are not available on the Internet, so a telephone call or personal visit will be required to obtain enrollment information. Many of these open enrollment plans are handled through local Blue Cross / Blue Shield Associations.
MedSave.com Specialty Product Availability Chart
State of Residence Coverage for Pre-existing Conditions Previously Declined for Coverage Non-insulin diabetic, high cholesterol, high blood pressure Non-US citizen Need ID card Immediately
AK Basic Health Insurance1 TIG3 Assurant TIG
AL Basic Health Insurance Celtic2 TIG Assurant TIG
AR Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
AZ Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
CA Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
CO TIG Assurant TIG
CT Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
DC Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
DE Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
FL Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
GA Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
HI Basic Health Insurance TIG Assurant TIG
IA Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG TIG TIG
ID Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
IL Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
IN Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
KS Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
KY Basic Health Insurance TIG Assurant TIG
LA Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
MA
MD Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
ME TIG Assurant TIG
MI Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
MN TIG Assurant TIG
MO Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
MS Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
MT Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
NC Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
ND Basic Health Insurance TIG Assurant TIG
NE Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
NJ
NH TIG Assurant TIG
NM Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
NV Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
NY
OK Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
OH Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
OR TIG Assurant TIG
PA Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
RI Basic Health Insurance TIG Assurant TIG
SC Basic Health Insurance Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
SD TIG Assurant TIG
TN Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
TX Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
UT TIG Assurant TIG
VA Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
VT
WA TIG Assurant TIG
WI Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
WV Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
WY Celtic TIG Assurant TIG
A red block indicates that no suitable coverage is available.
Footnotes:
1 Basic Health Insurance covers all pre-exiting conditions after 6 months.
2 Celtic does not allow re-enrollment but a second option is available through TIG. This plan allows enrollment to those who have been previously been declined for health insurance as long as the decline was not within the past 12 months.
3 All insurance plans issued online by HPA Inc. including TIG allow immediate printing of the ID card at the time of online enrollment.
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