Need individual insurance plan, help!!

Hello everyone!! I just lost my job 3 weeks ago, one that I had for 15 years. They let me keep my insurance until the end of the month, and I kind of dropped the ball and waited around to get coverage. I know COBRA is an option ($591 a month for me) but I tried to get an Anthem $5000 deductible policy and was denied because I have sleep apnea. I have used a CPAP for 6 years, so I am treating it. I've learned that it does not matter. Anthem told me that they would not cover me for any individual policy. I've done some online quoting and my phone is being blown up with people all over the country trying to sell me health insurance. Can anyone recommend an insurance company that will accept sleep apnea as a condition? I'm willing to pay $200-300 a month for a $5000 deductible!! Hard to believe a 35 year old man in "otherwise" good health can't even get a counteroffer from Anthem because of this. Figured this was one place to start looking for companies that look past the sleep apnea, or at the very least don't automatically deny you. I also live in Indiana and am trying to get state provided insurance due to getting denied, but I don't think I will qualify. Any suggestions??? Good insurance policys???????

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stock, you didn't say if you're going to get unemployment or not. If you do, you may possibly qualify for a government health insurance ( e.g. family health plus, medicaid, etc... ) A little more info and perhaps I may have some suggestions for you.

stockdogg wrote:Hello everyone!! I just lost my job 3 weeks ago, one that I had for 15 years. They let me keep my insurance until the end of the month, and I kind of dropped the ball and waited around to get coverage. I know COBRA is an option ($591 a month for me) but I tried to get an Anthem $5000 deductible policy and was denied because I have sleep apnea. I have used a CPAP for 6 years, so I am treating it. I've learned that it does not matter. Anthem told me that they would not cover me for any individual policy. I've done some online quoting and my phone is being blown up with people all over the country trying to sell me health insurance. Can anyone recommend an insurance company that will accept sleep apnea as a condition? I'm willing to pay $200-300 a month for a $5000 deductible!! Hard to believe a 35 year old man in "otherwise" good health can't even get a counteroffer from Anthem because of this. Figured this was one place to start looking for companies that look past the sleep apnea, or at the very least don't automatically deny you. I also live in Indiana and am trying to get state provided insurance due to getting denied, but I don't think I will qualify. Any suggestions??? Good insurance policys???????

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Incredible!

Ever hear the saying....."Lack of planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on our part."?

For one thing, in my opinion, if you are successfully treating OSA and have a data capable machine and the downloaded data to prove your AHI is less than 5.0, you don't actually "have" Obstructive Sleep Apnea. In other words, don't TELL them you have Sleep Apnea if you're successfully treating it.

And, I thought the "Obamacare" legislation that passed over a year ago was supposed to do away with pre-existing conditions exclusions.

Did you vote for Obama?


Den

Alicia - yes, and thank you for your reply. I will be getting unemployment benefits starting May 15th due to getting four weeks severance pay. Would love to hear what you have for me! Thank you so much!

Den - Yes I have heard that quote before and I'm assuming you meant it for me. I clearly said that I dropped the ball, yet I don't think I asked anyone for anything other than suggestions. I don't think I called for an emergency on your part sir or madam. And amazingly enough (not really) you quickly turned this into a political issue. And to answer your question, it doesn't matter what I put on my application...you should know that the most insurance underwriters will dig up every piece of medical information they can. They told me I had sleep apnea, I didn't tell them. But thanks for your "help" anyway! I don't appreciate that YOU made this a political thing, when I am just stating facts (like Anthem doesn't cover sleep apnea) I got mad about it yesterday and did what I felt was necessary (called Anthem and government to tell them how I feel), today I just want to find insurance, I'm not mad anymore. So you can take your political agenda and your "behind the keyboard" criticism elsewhere, thanks.

Since you live in Indiana, have you checked out the website below? It looks like it could help you find an insurer/determine if you are eligible for state medical assistance. Good luck!

http://www.in.gov/fssa/

Edit: Sorry, I should have read all your post. It looks like you've already checked into the state funded insurance.

Its ok, thank you for you reply and helpful suggestion! I followed the link just now and it looks like I have to be uninsured for 6 months. I will do some more research and see what I can come up with. Anybody that is self employed or have gotten individual insurance themselves run across any companies that will not automatically deny you for sleep apnea/sleep apnea treatment? Thanks for all the help so far!

Andy

[quote="stockdogg"]Alicia - yes, and thank you for your reply. I will be getting unemployment benefits starting May 15th due to getting four weeks severance pay. Would love to hear what you have for me! Thank you so much!

Stock, do you have wife/children? This matters when it comes to this stuff. I know you asked for help on an individual policy, but I won't assume either. Here are some links that might help you out:

http://member.indianamedicaid.com/apply ... icaid.aspx

http://www.in.gov/fssa/ompp/2544.htm%20 ... kah%20said

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/11poverty.shtml


Also, I tried googling Family Health Plus for Indiana. No luck. Perhaps you don't have that particular "insurance". It's similar to Child Health Plus, but instead covers adults. FYI, most if not all of your local hospitals have what is, in New York, called "charity care". This means that you can apply for a reduction of cost in obtaining benefits through their system. In New York, it's based on the Federal Poverty Level. Many times, based on your income, they can give you anywhere from 20 to 100% discounts on services. If you're lucky enough to have providers within these hospital networks, they're usually included so that you can see your provider at a discount. Even if you happen to locate some other type of insurance, do yourself a favor and apply for the charity care! Never know when it'll help you out immensely! Wish I had more info, Stock!

It always amazes me that posts like this about health insurance quickly deteriorate into an attack fest on so-called "Obamacare".

THIS IS NOT "Obamacare" folks, this IS the state of healthcare that the national healthcare reform act is aiming to FIX, but the parts of the plan that will limit an insurer's ability to deny coverage for pre-existing health problems will not even begin to kick in until the year 2014. You can't blame Obama for this--it has been going on for a very long time and it is one of the major reasons reform is so desperately needed.

Until that time, what we are stuck with is insurers who make the rules. They are happy to take your money if you are healthy and almost guaranteed never to need the healthcare they promise to provide, but sneeze once and you're out of luck for buying private insurance for years to come. There's a reason that health insurers' profits are in the TENS OF BILLIONS of dollars every year--Anthem Blue Cross is one of the biggest (do you realize they have attempted to raise premiums 40% each of the past two years in California?????).

Lying on your insurance application by failing to mention sleep apnea is a recipe for disaster. Insurers subscribe to national databases that rival credit reporting agencies. If you've seen a doctor for it, they will see it. They know everything, and "failing to mention" something like apnea will either result in an automatic denial or worse, they'll happily take your premiums but deny your claims for lying on your application.

And yes, it's ironic that treating your apnea makes you a much better insurance risk than the guy down the street who won't get diagnosed and treated, but he is insurable and you are not. Lovely system we have here.

Stock, I know the COBRA's expensive, but if nothing else comes up you should take it anyway. Being without insurance for any length of time, particularly 6 months while you wait around for your state plan is folly.

Furthermore, before you count on that state plan, there are things you should check out:
1. You seem to think that the state is just going to give you insurance after you've been without for six months, and that's probably not true. Most state plans are "high risk pools". That means they will match you with insurers who will cover you despite your pre-existing condition, but you must pay for it and the prices for that coverage may make your $591 COBRA plan look like chump change. They are outrageously high.
2. You may still not be eligible after 6 months--most of those plans require that you have no other way to get insurance. You do have a way, it's called COBRA. COBRA will cover you for up to 18 months. You may have to wait 18 or even 24 months.
3. You should not count on being dependent on public benefits like Medicaid for good healthcare. The system is overloaded AND the budget cuts programs are going through are horrendous. It is not a very good option for care.

I have not looked at the particulars of your state's plan, but you need to find out if these factors apply in your state.

For all the mortgage and credit issues in this country, medical costs still account for a huge percentage of the reasons for bankruptcy in this country. Going without insurance is like jumping out of a plane without a parachute. Not a good idea!

stockdogg wrote:Its ok, thank you for you reply and helpful suggestion! I followed the link just now and it looks like I have to be uninsured for 6 months. I will do some more research and see what I can come up with. Anybody that is self employed or have gotten individual insurance themselves run across any companies that will not automatically deny you for sleep apnea/sleep apnea treatment? Thanks for all the help so far!

Andy

I am so sorry to hear about your job of 15 years. The economy is scary right now and I worry about with my husband's job as well.

We purchased a Humana One temporary policy for our daughter about two years ago when she was uninsured. We never had to use the policy, but the service we did receive when setting it up was excellent. We went through:
http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/

I looked to see if Human One allows for sleep apnea and ran across this (Texas) PDF that states central and mixed are ineligible, but it doesn't say anything about obstructive. Here is the brochure:

http://www.health-life-dental-insurance ... -guide.pdf

The eHealthinsurance website has online chat, I think. You might ask about that. The policy we bought was really reasonable. We also bought her a dental discount card from Aetna through this site, I believe.

I hope this helps!