This is a story about health insurance. Actually, it’s a real life account of the difficult time that my wife and I had trying to get health insurance for our family. A few months ago, we found ourselves needing health insurance. After my employer filled for Bankruptcy, I decided to become self-employed. The health insurance that I had at the time (through my employer) only lasted through the end of that last month and then I was presented with the option of either letting our policy lapse, or going on COBRA. Problem was, the COBRA premiums were about 3 times more expensive than the original insurance payments. We were basically forced into having our policy lapse because we couldn’t afford the COBRA payments.
I contacted an independent insurance agent that sold health insurance for Anthem Blue Cross as well as several other insurance companies. I asked him for some health insurance quotes. We needed a policy for my wife and I and our 3 children (with our fourth child on the way). He took down some preliminary information and then had me go to his website to fill out the application. The application was several pages and took me about half an hour to complete on his website.
I submitted our application and waited to hear back. When he finally got back to me he told me that we were declined coverage because of “pre-existing conditions.” I had some back problems in the past and I guess the insurance company didn’t want to take the chance that I would need more treatment or surgeries. Anyway, bottom line, we were declined.
I wasn’t really sure what to do at that point. My family needed insurance but we couldn’t afford COBRA. I started researching health insurance online and found a site called Health Insurance Anthem Blue Cross. It’s a site that’s maintained by a local insurance agent named Tom McDonald. I filled out the form and then called Tom. He told me that I could get around the pre existing clause by getting a group policy. I guess if you get group insurance, the insurance company can’t decline coverage based on any pre-existing conditions. I had an LLC that my wife and I filled a few years back. She uses it to sell children’s clothes and blankets that she makes and I use it for some real estate investing work that I do. Tom told me that we would qualify for group insurance as long as we applied using our LLC instead of applying as individuals.
We had to show proof that the LLC was active and that we were, in fact, using it to run a business. A week later we had health insurance! It was a really great plan actually. It paid out at 100% after a nominal deductible was met. That year we had a lot of medical bills (including the birth of my 4th child) so we met the deductible very quickly and everything else was paid for by the insurance company at 100%.
I like that I was able to complete the application process online as opposed to turning in a hand-written application. It was also very important to me to have access to a knowledgeable insurance agent who could answer our questions and guide us though this process.
Learn more about California Health Insurance. Stop by Eric Sachs’ site where you can find out all about Blue Cross Health Insurance and what it can do for you.