An Overview of HIPAA Health InsuranceYou left your job to start your own business. You knew that you would lose your health insurance, but you were protected under the federal COBRA plan and you kept your coverage for 18 months. You paid for the premiums yourself on time and now that the 18 months are expiring, you opt to exercise your option to purchase a new individual policy. While you assumed that you would be approved, you have been denied. Is this the end of your ability to acquire insurance? Not if you invoke your rights under HIPAA.
Many individuals will fret over their current health insurance situation. Specifically, there are uninsured people that wish they could acquire or keep their insurance policy but assume they cannot. Often, this is because they may have a pre-existing condition that makes being approved for an insurance policy very difficult. No one has a right to a health insurance policy so major providers will generally decline approval for someone that already has a condition. To the provider, they would be immediately accepting a client who will be a net loss since the coverage payouts will exceed what they would be receiving each month in terms of premiums. Needless to say, this leaves many people out in the proverbial cold as far as health coverage goes. But, the situation does not have to be this dire. Many of those looking for coverage might be able to find it in the form of HIPPA which is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, an act designed to help those who may seemingly be out of coverage options.
Under federal law, HIPAA serves as a means of extending rights and protections to anyone that is a member of a group health plan. There are many ways that HIPAA seeks to provide these necessary protections to individuals. Some of the benefits of the HIPAA Act include protections from denial of coverage for preexisting conditions; protections from any employment discrimination surrounding a preexisting condition; and the ability to purchase health insurance without the chance of denial when certain specific conditions are present. Most importantly, HIPAA may open the doors in some situations to purchase a policy when group plan coverage is no longer an option.
For example, in the aforementioned employee separation scenario, it may be possible for the employee to continue with coverage due to the government compelling the insurance provider to sell him a policy. In short, when COBRA coverage has expired the person covered under COBRA may invoke the HIPAA laws to purchase a policy if the provider denies his coverage application.
Granted, there will be an additional charge and fee deriving from this but the extra money charged per month will generally not be an outrageous amount. And, most importantly, the person would be able to maintain a health insurance policy covering him in the advent of any medical problems or emergencies.
Yes, HIPAA truly is a valuable program and it allows many troubled recipients to maintain their health insurance coverage even when they are in very difficult situations. As such, the value of a HIPAA health insurance coverage plan can never be overstated. |
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