Health Insurance cancelled

[gtrekker2003]

What is the name of your state? NY

I live in NYC. I buy my health insurance from a group rate plan from an agency I work for. I'm an independent contractor. They just called me last week (28th June) and said that the health insurance company is no longer qualifying contractors for their plan by the end of that month (June), leaving me without any health insurance as of 1st July. That just gave me one weekend of notice.

My questions is:
1) Shouldn't a health insurance company give more notice before such cancellations? Do I have any such rights?
I never signed any contract, just one saying that I'll pay monthly for the HMO plan I was on.

Many Thanks,
Gtrekker2003

 

[cbg]

Each state requires health insurance carriers to provide renewal rates (which is generally when policies change) within a certain specified time frame. I don't know off hand what it is in your state, but it's generally between 30-60 days.

Once that is received, the employer (in this case, the agency) goes into renewal negotiations. (They COULD just accept the renewal rates, but these days that's rare - renewals are often in double digit increases.) This can mean going out to bid from other insurance carriers, which may or may not offer the same benefits.

It is unfortunate but true that often the negotiations take almost all the time left. Sometimes that means that there really is only a couple of days before the new policy takes effect.

To be perfectly honest, most insurance carriers will not cover independent contractors. If you've been getting coverage, you're extremely lucky.

You should be eligible for COBRA, which should cover you until you find alternate coverage.