Diabetes Health Insurance California CA
Reader’s Question:
I have a type A diabetes. If I purchase an individual health insurance in California, will my health insurance cover my pre-existing condition?
Andrei
Los Angeles, CA
Hit here, Andrei!
The bad news is, most health insurance companies in California impose a pre-existing condition exclusion period for new applicants. From an employer’s group health insurance plan, the exclusion period is no longer than 12 months. Of course, pre-existing condition would vary from state to state. In some states, this period is for 12 months, in some for 18 months, and even in some states could be 24 months or longer. Some states would include in health insurance plans riders, which excludes coverage for those with pre-existing conditions like you.
However, do not be disappointed since job-based health coverage, can “credit” you for each month of prior creditable coverage. “Credit” offsets the pre-existing exclusion period. This means therefore that you must be credited for the 9 months of prior continuous creditable coverage if you were covered under a job-based plan for 9 months before changing jobs. Now let’s say you have more than 1 year of prior continuous creditable coverage, then you wouldn’t have to worry about exclusion period in your new job-based plan.
You have to remember though that the prior creditable coverage must be continuous for it to count, which means you cannot have a gap in coverage for more than 63 days, or else you will lose credit for everything prior to the gap.
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