Health Insurance question

[JensJrny2Ray 367]

I've been trying to research this as I'm very uninformed as to how the US health insurance system works.

My husband will be receiving his employer's health insurance in October as it kicks in after a month after he starts work. I know that he an add me no problem. My question is, is the health insurance "guaranteed issue"? I ask this because I was just diagnosed with a blood clot and require medication for the rest of my pregnancy. We have to pay out of pocket for this, and we are hoping it will only have to be for a couple of months until his insurance kicks in. I'm hoping insurance will just take over as his prescription benefits will be quite excellent and this medicine is around 6k a month. Anyone with knowledge about this? Thank you.

[gwenstar 66]

I would suggest contacting the insurance company or at least get a detailed plan of coverage from the employer- sometimes it can be tricky with "pre-existing" conditions. Since all insurance companies do things differently you might get the most peace of mind by checking with the specific company.

Congrats on the new job and the baby

[newacct 688]

I believe that usually group plans (ones you get from an employer) generally do cover pre-existing conditions, but you should check to make sure.

[Ozz777 23]

Definitely contact his insurer, pregnancy alone will be considered a preexisting condition by some insurers.

[VeeNDee 44]

For what it's worth, I've been dealing with health insurance issues and my husband's insurance too during pregnancy, since his previous job switched insurance companies in June, and then he started a new job in July, that the insurance didn't kick in for until August 1 so we've also been on COBRA in July (yay 4 different insurance options, what a headache).

The August 1 insurance guarantees coverage but NOT for pre-existing conditions for a period of 3 months.

I managed to waive this by providing proof I had been covered in the past 6 months (I gave them the previous health insurance card #'s, photocopied). My husband's original insurance when we got married back in January covered pre-existing right away. My husband had 'credit' for being covered previously for a year, but they only gave me credit for 6 months of coverage. (Each day of previous coverage counts for half a day reduction in the wait time to be covered on the new insurance)... I had been constantly covered, while in Canada (of course) with travel medical before marriage and then on his marriage plan but they didn't bother to go that far back since they didn't need to.

I am not sure which insurance company you are going through, but you will definitely want to investigate this and not assume you are covered... it's so lame. My husband was shocked to discover they could still refuse to cover pre-existing conditions (apparently the law doesn't go into effect until 2014... correct me if I'm wrong and it's later)... but yeah, pregnant right now so not much help. We are also investigating, since the baby will be a US citizen, to add them onto the state healthcare to save money since his work insurance is suuuper pricey. Not sure if that is an option.... still investigating.

Want a punching bag to hit? Sometimes I feel like it would help with navigation of this stupid health bureaucracy paperwork down here!!!!

P.S. If you want more info feel free to PM me, I can try to find the letter our current insurance company sent about pre-existing conditions and coverage for more information.. But it will really depend on what insurance company he has. Hopefully it's like my husband's original insurers and being married waives this limitation.