AboutLinda Woolsteen Expertise I can help you with questions about health insurance. If you feel your insurance company is mistreating you. Are they telling you they are checking eligibity, pre-existing, etc. Or you just don`t understand how your insurance works or don`t understand what a PPO is.. I can help you.
Experience
Past/Present clients One company I worked for I was the underwriter for the Academy of Medicine of Cleveland and the Ohio Bar Association. I was also a supervisor of our customer service department.
Question Sorry for a longish question. Myself and wife are beneficiary of I-130 filed by our daughter who is a USC living in Texas, on cosular processing basis, while i am working abroad in Middle East. After getting GC approval which is expected soon, we plan to come to US to become landed immigrant and wish to settle in dallas ,Texas. But, my wife ( 54 years)has a pre existing condition (diabetese) and i am fine ( 61 years).I understand that for individual health insurance, in Texas there is a long waiting period for PEC and also the insurance companies often deny the coverage. whereas in some states likeMassachussetes state, the health insurance coverage is guaranteed more or less. if this is true, what do i have to do to show ourselves as resident of MA to start with. After how much time can we then move to Texas to retain the health insurance cover. What options do we have. If I can invest some money to buy a small residential property etc.in MA, would it helps the matter. kindly advise. we seem to be stuck for a solution.
Answer Hi, Sorry for the delay. I though your question was actually the same as another I had & I thought you were the same person that I answered already.
Anways, Pre-Existing & Eligibility are two different things. You have to apply for coverage first. Which means you have to be eligible and also means that you have to prove insurability. You have to answer a health questionairre. They will then, eith approve you, approve you with riders, or approve you being rated up (higher premium) or deny you. If you should be so lucky, to get approved. You then generally have a waiting period called a pre-existing time period. The time period can vary by policy. Usually, it is like 12/24. Which means if you were seen, treated or consulted for a condition for 12 months prior to your effective date, that condition(s) would not be covered until you have been in the plan then for 24 months.
Ok, with that, there are some states that offer medical coverage so I have heard. At the Insurance Company I worked for, we use to get calls from people that were on Tenncare which is something the state of Tennesee offered. Those types of plans would be government plans and I do not know anything about them. You would probably be best just going online and reading on each state that you are interested in's government page to see what the eligibility requirements are; like if you have to live in the state & show proof of residence for a certain time period, will you have to prove insurability still at all, cost, etc.
Diabetes is a hard condition. I am pretty sure it will be a denial with most insurance companies. Which means they may give her coverage with a Rider on it which means Nothing for that condition will be covered. If she were to get coverage with a rider I think she would be pretty lucky. I think it would just be an automatic decline since it can effect so many other body parts. Some people go to work at a large company just to get health insurance for sick/uninsurable spouses. Usually, if the group has 50 or more employees you do not have to prove insurability, the coverage is guaranteed.
Obtaining health insurance is a real problem now days. I have a friend from India, he was married & had health insurance through his wife. He had a heart attack & then they wanted to divorce. I told him that if they get along at all, he was better off to stay with her because there was no way he was going to get health insurance coverage after having a heart attack. He was to stubborn. Divorced, had another heart attack and he owns a Mr. Hero that he also runs all by himself. He is going to have to file for bankruptcy and loose everything because of his medical bills.
Again, sorry, I had not answered. I hope this helps.
