Thursday, May 17, 2012

Get Individual Health Insurance If You Have Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a disease that will unfortunately affect one out of every eight women, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and The National Institutes of Health. Breast cancer treatment can be expensive, so it helps to offset a portion of that cost with a quality insurance plan. However, getting insurance after you have been diagnosed with cancer can be tricky, to say the least. While it might seem difficult, there are some steps you can take to get insurance even if you are suffering from breast cancer.


Instructions


1. Create a group health care plan if you live in a state that allows for the creation of single-person groups for health insurance purposes. Insurers are not permitted to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions for group care, so setting up a group of one can help you to circumvent otherwise stringent rules about pre-existing conditions. States that allow this include Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Vermont.


2. Invest in COBRA if you have lost your health insurance due to having been laid off from your job. Although expensive, COBRA might provide one of the only avenues available to obtain insurance if you are suffering from breast cancer.


3. Apply for insurance within 63 days of losing your group plan coverage. No matter what state you live in, there will be an insurance company marked as the insurer of last resort. This company is obligated to accept all individuals previously insured who apply within the designated time frame. Do not delay in acting if you qualify under this provision.







Tags: breast cancer, Breast cancer, from breast, from breast cancer, pre-existing conditions