Continuous Coverage and Group Insurance

[Eileen Kern]

What is the name of your state? Texas

Background:

Our family has two pre-existing conditions: 1) cranial-facial surgery on our daughter 11 years ago with periodic checkups since, and 2) my wife has had two benign brain tumors 15 years apart the last time was 4 years ago.

We have had continuous group coverage for 24 years and are currently on Cobra.

I am a W-2 contractor and my current company does not make group insurance available to hourly employees.

Questions:

What are the ramifications of moving from group insurance to individual insurance with pre-existing conditions, taking into account we have had continuous coverage?

What are the ramifications of moving from individual insurance to group insurance at a later time with pre-existing conditions, taking into account we have had continuous coverage?

What are the laws regarding continuous coverage and group/individual insurance?

Is there anything else we should consider when deciding the type of insurance to get?

Thank you,
Curtis

 

[cbg]

If you move from a group plan to a group plan, HIPAA will offer you protection from any issues with pre-existing conditions. When you throw an individual policy into the mix, however, it gets a little more complicated. Here's a link that will explain it a bit better than I can do it in this format:

http://www.insure.com/health/hipaa2.html