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 got some quotes and applied for coverage with a local insurance agent. That agent had a website that I had to go on to fill out the online application. It was easy enough.
The agent eventually told me that we were declined coverage because of a “pre-existing condition.” I had some minor back issues throughout my life and the insurance company declined us as a result.
I found a website ran by a local Blue Cross agent. After filling out the application on this new site I was contacted by the agent who ran the site. He told me that if I could qualify as a “group” the pre-existing conditions wouldn’t apply and that I would not be declined coverage. I had an LLC that I had filled a few years prior. My wife and I use it to run a few different business. Anyway, we submitted the application as a group according to that agent’s advice.
We went through the process of applying online and had to show proof that the LLC was active and that my wife and I were members of the company. After about a week, Blue Cross issued our policy! My wife and I (and all of our kids) finally had coverage and we were very happy with the way things turned out. We opted for a PPO and it was the type of coverage that paid our medical bills at 100% as soon as the annual deductable was met. Because my fourth child was born and my wife had to have a C-Section, our deductable was met almost immediately and all of our medical bills for the rest of that year were covered at 100% by Blue Cross! That policy saves us something like $40,000 that year because as it turned out, I needed to have another back surgery after all!
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.
Tags: anthem blue cross, blue cross, california health insurance, cobra, health care, health insurance, insurance, medical insurance