Most Americans obtain health insurance through an employer, but people who don’t have access to such coverage and are ineligible for public programs like Medicaid and Medicare must rely on individually-purchased health insurance. Yet, healthaccess the individual insurance market can be a difficult place to buy coverage, especially for people who are in less-than-perfect health.
Access to and the cost of coverage is very much dependent on a person’s health status, supporthome age, place of residence, and other factors. Understanding how this market works for people in
Different circumstances are important for several reasons. First, some 25 million Americans bought health insurance in the individual market in 2009. Second, holisticly anyone can find
Himself or herself in need of individual market coverage at some point in their lives. Common circumstances leading people to seek such coverage include self-employment, early
Retirement, working part time, divorce or widowhood, or “aging off” a parent’s policy. Finally, federal policymakers are debating proposals to expand coverage for the uninsured by subsidizing their purchase of health insurance in the individual market through tax credits, elderlytimes so it is important to understand what this market can and cannot offer those who lack health insurance today.
Now, surpriseattackrecords consumers who are in less than-perfect health clearly face barriers to obtaining health insurance coverage in the individual insurance market. Insurance carriers often decline to cover people who have pre-existing medical conditions, and even when they offer coverage, frequently impose severe limitations on the coverage for any expenses related to the pre-existing condition or charge more to cover these expenses. This can price insurance out of the reach of many consumers in poor health or create significant gaps in coverage that could result in being under insured. For the purpose of this article let’s take some hypothetical people and let’s give some examples. whado
The fact that Anthony had HIV made it almost certain he would be rejected by most or all carriers (some states require certain carriers in the individual market to offer coverage to all applicants). Similarly, onlineearns John’s multiple health risks (smoking, weight, high blood pressure) made it likely that he would be rejected quite often. But it is important to recognize, too, that many Americans would fit similar profiles. And like Anthony, some 800,000 Americans are living with HIV, while millions of other Americans have arthritis, diabetes, riobelizegolfcartrental or other conditions
Insurers often consider “uninsurable.” Anyone with a health condition could face some difficulty obtaining coverage in the individual market. At the same time, the actions of many carriers make it clear that medical underwriting is practiced very differently by different health insurers. skylightmarijuana
