Individual health insurance is one of the most crucial products in the health insurance industry. Targeting singles and family together, this product holds the key to ensure that residents of Virginia are getting health insurance cover.
Like any other state,
being a resident of Virginia, the ease and ability of buying an individual health insurance plan depends upon the health status of the consumer. Though there are some instances where a consumer should be provided with health insurance cover, but overall, insurance companies in VA, except CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, are free to turn down an application. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) offers one individual health insurance policy to any D.C. resident regardless of health status. This policy is called the Blue Preferred Open Enrolment policy. The premium costs for this policy vary based on age and not on the health status.
One advantage that residents of Virginia enjoy is being eligible for HIPAA. If you are HIPAA eligible in the Virginia, you have the right to buy individual health insurance policies and are exempted from pre-existing condition exclusion periods.
Furthermore, if you are HIPAA eligible, private insurance companies that sell individual health insurance must offer you the choice of at least two policies. If not, they must offer you all the available individual health insurance products. Moreover, being HIPAA eligible, a consumer can’t be imposed pre-existing condition exclusion periods. But at the same time, no limit is there on the charges that the company may ask from you.
To be HIPAA eligible, you need to fulfil these conditions:
• 18 months of continuous creditable coverage is needed.
• You also must have used up any COBRA or state continuation coverage for which you were eligible.
• You must not be eligible for Medicare, Medicaid or a group health plan.
• You must not have health insurance.
• You must apply for health insurance for which you are HIPAA eligible within 63 days of losing your prior coverage.
What will be covered in an individual health insurance policy?
The coverage provided by any health insurance policy depends upon the need of the consumer. Virginia does not require health insurers in the individual market to sell standardized policies. This gives a lot of flexibility to the insurance companies and different options to the consumers also. So, depending on the needs of consumer, a health insurance policy is designed.
What can I be charged for an individual health insurance policy?
Once again, it depends upon the health status of an individual. If you have an expensive health condition, your individual health insurance premiums may be very high—there is no law in Virginia that prohibits health insurers from charging you more because of your health status, age and other factors. So, you need to figure out which one of them is offering better options, better coverage level with minimal budget.
