HIPAA question

[Dry Socks]

Does HIPAA consider an association policy (like ieee medical insurance) to be a 'group' policy ?

If it does, that would be really great.
Currently we have an individual policy that's very expensive and going up 20% every year. DW has a pre-existing condition so we can't switch to another provider. I don't have access to a group plan through work.

I joined ieee about 6 months ago to be eligible for their insurance policy. They'll take us but I have to be a member of ieee for 2 years first. So, the change to the ieee plan won't happen for at least 18 months.

After switching to the ieee plan, does the HIPAA protect me if ieee changes the plan or we need to switch to another provider for some reason ? I found the following quote on Wikipedia:

Title I also forbids individual health plans from denying coverage or imposing preexisting condition exclusions on individuals who have at least 18 months of creditable group coverage without significant breaks and who are not eligible to be covered under any group, state, or federal health plans at the time they seek individual insurance


If that's true and it applies to the ieee plan, then our medical insurance choices in ~ 3 years would be better than now. How cool is that ! ... if it's true.

Any comments are greatly appreciated!