Ka Mai Kim

So, until November, I was covered under my dad's health insurance through his work (GHP). I am no longer in school, so I no longer qualified for that particular insurance. I decided, since I cannot get insurance through my work until March, to pay for my own insurance coverage through the same company. So, I filled out the application and sent it in.

Today, I get the letter in the mail saying that I am no longer covered under my dad's policy, as well as my rejection letter saying my own application had been denied. No reason given, GHP just "can't insure me at this time." WTF?? This does not make any sense whatsoever. It is THE SAME insurance company that I had before, and I am more than willing to pay $150+ a month for my own friggin policy. I don't know why they will not insure me. The only thing I can think of is that I have PCOS and I am now taking anti-depressants. I guess those count as "pre-existing medical conditions"...even though they were the same company covering me when I was diagnosed!

God, I am just so frustrated. I can afford to pay full price for my BCPs, but I haven't even gone back for a follow up appointment with my psychiatrist because my insurance ran out around the same time I was going to go back. So therefore, I never got a real prescription for the Lexapro I have been taking. They just gave me a month's worth of free samples. Now I can't even get back to see the psychiatrist to get a prescription, because I can't afford the office visit to let him know how I am doing.

Now I am super bummed. I was really counting on getting insured in the very near future, and now it looks like it isn't happening.

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nicole47

Can you get COBRA through your father (or were you doing that already)?

Try ehealthinsurance.com for other insurance brokers. When I get to work on Monday (remind me) I'll see what I've got about Missouri laws on independent health insurance coverage. My guess is the reason you were denied would be that Missouri mandates mental health or mental health parity (I'm not sure whether it does or not, but I have a grid at work), so they can't offer you an insurance that excludes mental health by law and they don't want to offer insurance in general because you would be too expensive to them.

For mental health--there may be a place in your area that offers reduced rate or sliding scale appointments. Usually you would check out your closest university or teaching hospitals, but maybe you could give your old therapist's office a call to ask if either they could offer you a reduced rate or if they can recommend a place in the area that does. Additionally, GPs can give the prescription if you just need that.

disintegration

You can also try Medicaid as well. I was in the same boat as you, so I know your pain and aggrivation.

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*Clarissa*

I'm sorry that really stinks. I hope that you are able to find a solution.

soonermomma03

I'm almost 25 and I haven't had insurance since I was 18. Not much fun, especially having a baby and knowing stuff is wrong with me, but there isn't anything I can do.

We miss the cut off for medicaid by less than $100, and every insurance company I've tried turns me down for my weight, never mind that everything else was looking good (it hasn't been since having Lainey). I've just learned to deal with it and pray that nothing major happens.

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Julieben

Try appealing the denial, but get a certificate from your dad's ins. co saying you were previously covered for at least 6mos...that may help you get insured. Good luck!!

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VivC

Check to find out about your state's high-risk pool. Usually, if you've been denied coverage, you can pay a little extra and go that route.

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Ka Mai Kim

My dad talked to the GHP rep at his work. She said that I can get on COBRA, and after I have been on COBRA for X amount of time, then GHP has to accept me. Well, hopefully I will have my own insurance through work in March, so I won't have to worry about it. I didn't want to go the COBRA route at first because from what I understand, it's pretty crappy coverage. Unless I didn't understand it correctly. Oh well...better than nothing I guess.

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isabellekitty

I think Cobra is the same coverage you had before but you pay more for it b/c you basically pay the premiums your dad's company was previously paying.

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nicole47

COBRA is actually a pretty good deal for most people (pretty much everyone except the young, unmarried, and 100% healthy, especially in states with underwriting allowed).

It seems more expensive than health insurance should be because most people are only used to buying health insurance through work, where the employer pays a large part of the insurance costs (because there are tax advantages to doing so). It may seem more expensive than independent coverage, but that's because it's usually better coverage than what people buy for themselves on the independent market for cost reasons (the BC/BS guy for North Carolina told me their most popular independent policy had a 5K deductable).

By Federal law, they can only charge 102% of the actual cost of the insurance at the group rate (the 2% is for additional paperwork costs to the firm) and insurance companies lose money from it because of adverse selection (sicker people are more likely to leave the company and not get new insurrance right away and people who think they'll need the insurance are more likely to buy it... plus there's a large grace period where COBRA becomes retroactive... I think a month or more so you can decide not to buy it right away but if you get into an auto accident on day 15, you can say, hey I meant to get COBRA all along and then you're covered retroactively).

So under COBRA you should have exactly the same policy as you did before. It should be pretty good coverage, and it will cost you what you were paying before plus whatever the company was paying on your behalf plus 2%. It's group coverage so your own prior health will not be under-written.