New Insurance - Waiting Period is 90 Days

Well you could search for a very high deductible insurance policy which should have a lower cost than $800/month.
Call your state insurance office for some help on the "bridge" coverage (bridging until you are fully covered on your new job).
It might be worth it to put the $800/mo on a credit card if there isn't any lower insurance available. Pay for it as long as you are able up to the 62 day cut-off.

Good luck.

P.S. Don't ask BCBS about "short term" insurance. They don't want the trouble to set up a policy you'll drop.

Welcome back, Sara & congrats on new job! Have you looked at new federal govt. site HealthCare.gov? It seems that one can click there on the state where one lives to get more specific info. Your income is likely too high (lol) to qualify you for Medicaid. Good luck with the search & definitely keep us posted. / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)

Thanks Old Hat and Julee. I will check out that website, Old Hat. I had not heard about that. I actually really, really hate this new job, but it was the only thing I could find at the moment, so I'm still applying to others. I'm hoping to hear back about a position with the US Forest Service that I interviewed for. I really, really want that job and the benefits would be great!

julee - My old "employer" (it was AmeriCorps and we were technically volunteers) doesn't offer COBRA because we didn't have health insurance, we had a health plan. I don't really get it, but they do offer what they call conversion coverage which costs $800/month. I may have to do this.

I can't really check with my new employer's plan about the possibility of there not being a pre-existing exclusion because they are currently in the process of possibly changing health insurers to save money! Great idea though.

I will check into the high-risk pool.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.

I paid the 800 for a long time. Now I am in the high risk pool and its still 450. You definately dont want to wind up with a huge hospital bill so I would keep fighting to not have a 63 day or greater gap in coverage. I got a huge shock from my last bill so I am now on a plan that goes to 1 mil and has an out of pocket max.

Some states have some type of guaranteed insurance program, or mandates on pre-existing condition limits. I'm not sure if Iowa is one of them, but you could try contacting the # on this site: https://www.hipiowa.com/contact_us.asp (that is part of the new federal health insurance changes).

Peety - Do you think I shouldn't worry about it then? I have 2 months of prescriptions at my house right now so I'm good through January. I'm supposed to see my doctor again sometime soon to get refills. Right now I am currently uninsured.

I called the high risk pool insurance today and there is no waiting list for Indiana; however, the woman I spoke to said I wasn't eligible since I have the option of Celtic Conversion Insurance (the $800 option that AmeriCorps is giving me). I'm confused though because on the Healthcare.gov website it says you can be eligible for high risk insurance if your private insurance is more expensive than you would be paying with the high risk pool (which would cost me about $465/month). I think she was confused what Celtic Conversion Insurance was and thought it was the same as COBRA. If you have the option of COBRA you can't get into the high risk pool.

This stuff is all so confusing.

Sara - have you looked into one of the high deductible plans? You'll basically have to pay everything out of pocket, but at least you'd be covered if you went into the ER or had any other "big" problem. Usually they run <$300/month with pre-existing conditions (~$100/month without). I lived in Iowa (Scott County), and found insurance through www.ehealthinsurance.com/ years ago. It's a great site to see all the options. Might want to check it out.

Best of luck

Sara14 said...
aguywithuc - Was there a waiting list for you to get the high risk pool insurance? Glad you finally got on it, even though it's still expensive.

Sara14 I do not have to wait, technically my COCC is being reviewed by the underwriter but it is legit so I am told to call back later this week. So I followed Peety's link from another post and saw that the new Obama stuff requires you to be without coverage for 6 months. Just nuts and yes quite confusing. Yes this country needs reform and I am sick and tired of family and friends that just happen to be lucky or lucky and they eat right and workout but have no idea what it is like to get blindsided by a disease like this. It is as if they think we caused it.

Sara 14

It is my understanding that the 63 day lapse in insurance (as per HIPPA) does not include the wait periods prior to benefits starting that are imposed by new employers. Namely, you are enrolled in your new plan the day you start you new job as far as HIPAA is concerned, despite that imposed wait period for benefits to start. So if you went from one job immediately into the next (or at least within 63 days) you will be ok as far as preX wait periods go.....assuming you have been enrolled in another health plan for at least the previous year. I copied some information for you on HIPAA creditable coverage:

"An important feature of HIPAA is known as “creditable coverage.” Creditable coverage is health insurance coverage you had before you enrolled in your new health plan, as long as it was not interrupted by a period of 63 or more days. The amount of time you had “creditable” health insurance coverage can be used to offset a pre-existing condition exclusion period in your new health plan.
The bottom line: If you had at least a full year of health coverage at your previous job and you enrolled in your new health plan without a break of 63 days or more, your new health plan cannot subject you to the pre-existing condition exclusion."

You will need what they call a "Certificate of Creditable Coverage" from your previous health plan to give to your new health plan that details how long you had health coverage for. Be sure to get ASAP because they are only required to provide it to you for a certain amount of time, after which they can refuse to give it to you.

That being said - you will not have coverage for those three months should something happen. You could try to get short term insurance as others have suggested. Some companies are geared strictly towards providing this type of policy. They will probably not cover your UC ....if they give you insurance at all.

Hope that helps, Jo

Joma - did a quick search on the internet and I think you are right. I'm so glad you mentioned this because I had no idea that that was the case! Maybe I'll just get short-term insurance and pay the $600 for Asacol for the one month I'll need it....it will be a lot cheaper than $800 for 3 months.

Sara14 said...
I haven't looked into those. I used to live in Iowa (Winneshiek County, really miss it too) but now I'm in Indiana. I'll check out that site. Did they cover your pre-existing condition or did you not have UC then? Thanks again.

Ah, I saw Iowa in your profile, sorry. Yeah, the blue cross high deductible I found covered UC ... I think I paid $150/month and had a $5,000 deductible. The normal rate was $75, but they doubled it due to UC. However, this was ~6 years ago, so rates are probably closer to $300 now. Still, it's better than $800/month (unless you're planning to go to the doctors a lot).

I don't know what site Joma is referring to, but the info. sounds correct to me, based on my past employment-related insurance. When you are employed & waiting for the employer-offered health insurance to take effect, you are not "without coverage" in the same category as the unemployed or long-term uninsured are-- where the 63-day limit applies. / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)