One thing some of you might want to look into is portability coverage. Most insurance companies including BCBS, Aetna, and Cigna offer it. Portability coverage is a type of health insurance that is given without a review of the applicant's medical records. Because of this it can be somewhat difficult to get, as it has a number of conditions that must be met before it is issued. It's also not offered in every state, so you might not be able to get it depending on where you live.
Here's how it works --- under HIPPA health insurance companies can offer what is called portability coverage (also called HIPPA coverage). It is health insurance for people who have already had insurance under a group plan (such as through an employer, the military, etc) NOT individual coverage. If you have had group health insurance and have somehow lost it, for example you lost or quit your job, moved, etc, and have exhausted your COBRA coverage (yes you must use COBRA first or TCC in the case of military/government members), you might be eligible for portability coverage.
To be eligible for portability coverage you must-- (some of the dates might be slightly different in some states, but the gist is there)
1) have had group health insurance for at least 18 months prior to applying for portability coverage
2) not have had a break in coverage during the last 18 months that lasted longer than 63 days
3) not be eligible for any group health insurance, including Medicare, Medicaid, or AHCCCS for example
4) not be covered by any other health insurance
AND
5) have exhausted your COBRA benefits (which might be different/last longer if you recently lost your job due to recent Acts of Congress)
How to get it --
It can be hard to get portability coverage, insurance companies don't want to offer it because it can cost them a LOT more than regular group plans. This is because there is NO preexisting conditions provision. Also, these plans operate as a PPO, which is also more costly to the insurance company than an HMO. The good news with that is though that you can choose your doctor and you don't have to see your PCP everytime you need to go to your endocrinologist or another specialist. So, in order to get portability coverage you MUST be persistant. Sales representatives for insurance companies will try to steer you toward another plan or as what happened with me, they'll tell you they don't offer it when they do. Make sure you're clear about you're asking for --- portability or HIPPA coverage. Before the insurance company tells you that they don't offer it, they must ask what state you live in (because it's not offered everywhere), so if they don't ask what state you're in and say they don't offer it, ask to speak to someone else. Also, even if you do get an insurance company to talk to you about portability coverage, you'll find that they'll offer probably two plans to you, which may not be that great. Unfortunately, that's sorta the price of doing business here. Since the insurance companies don't make a lot of money off of these plans, they don't offer many options with them.
One more important thing--
Portability coverage is
expensive. I mean ridiculously expensive. So if you have another option it might be worth it to take it. For example, portability coverage for me (a 25 year old female) in Arizona runs at the cheapest $600 per month and easily goes to $1500 per month. This is of course on top of a $1500-$2500 deductible and the insurance only pays 75-80% of the bills and I still have copays. If I was able to get health insurance after a medical records review (I can't currently because I had brain surgery 3 months ago), my premiums would be a fraction of the price. What I'm trying to do (which you might think about too) is to have portability coverage long enough to get past the preexisting conditions waiting period for other plans my insurer offers and then switch plans. That works as long as you don't have treatment for the preexisting condition for 6-12 months before applying for a new plan. With PCOS, that can be hard because treatment can be ongoing, but if you go say 3-6 months between endocrinologist visits, you might be able to apply for a new plan, pay for one visit out of pocket and then have insurance that covers the preexisiting condition. Or in the meantime, find a doctor who can "change" your diagnosis to something that would be covered as others where talking about.
I do hope this helps some of you. I had to do a TON of research to find out about portability coverage even though the insurance companies I talked to knew there was no way they would cover me right after brain surgery. Not a single person I talked to suggested it. I consider myself lucky that there was enough information out there on the internet for me to be able to find out about it. If you have any questions about it or decide that you want to apply for it and need some help, please feel free to ask, PM me, whatever. I'd be glad to help.
