Your Legal Rights
There is protection under the law that requires companies that employ more than 20 people to allow employees to continue in their group coverage for a minimum of 18 months after employment has ended. The name of the law that guarantees this benefit to employees is called COBRA, which is short for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. This is good news in many ways, as you can't be denied coverage outright. On the other hand, the law does not require companies to continue subsidizing your insurance premiums. For good insurance coverage the price of the normal premiums can be quite shocking to say the least. It is important however to hold on to your coverage for as long as possible despite the cost.
Even better for many employees who may have health conditions and concerns or are older is the Health Insurance Portability and Affordability Act, also known as HIPAA. According to this act, if you have been covered through a group insurance policy within the previous 63 days you cannot be turned down by coverage from another insurer regardless of health. While this is good news for many insured in this country, it does not guarantee or regulate the costs of this insurance so there's no guarantee you can actually afford the insurance.
Despite efforts, the number of uninsured in this country continues to rise. As a result, states are taking action to insure that insurance is available to everyone. The problem lies not in the availability of insurance, and but in the cost of health insurance. Many states have even initiated ‘high-risk pools' that are designed to guarantee insurance coverage to those who would ordinarily be turned down as a result of poor health conditions.
In response to the problem of price for those in poor health states like New York are beginning to implement ‘community ratings' which prevent insurers from charging disproportionately higher rates to those who would ordinarily be denied coverage or at the very least charged a significantly higher rate for the benefit of receiving coverage.
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