Is there a downside for being denied

[Beststash]

healthcare insurance coverage for an individual policy? My circumstances are that my past employer (retired) has cut healthcare benefits for my spouse. We still have access through my group plan but the cost has risen from $0 to over $600 per month in the last 4 years (her cost - total $874 per month). We were thinking that it might be beneficial to look into a HSA to save money. It looks like it would be a $2000-$3000 per year savings dollar savings if she qualifies - she (57) has a pre-existing condition (glaucoma). We don't expect the insurance company to approve her application but were wondering - is there a downside to being denied for individual insurance? We can always choose to insure through the group plan but were just looking to save some money.

Are the insurance companies "connected" in such a manner that they share information between themselves? If she were denied - would it affect any future efforts of decisions on healthcare? I just have a sneaky suspicion that it might b the case? I guess it could be paranoia - I get like that sometimes.

[toofrugalformycat]

I don't know for sure, but there may indeed be a downside. In my case, a few years ago, I applied for an individual policy and was denied (I was shocked). When I applied to another company, they asked if I'd ever been denied and why. It didn't look good on the application!

What finally worked for me was to talk with a local insurance agent who represented multiple companies and could recommend which companies to apply to, and tell me before I applied if I'd likely be denied or not, and how much it would cost if I was accepted. If you've never applied for private insurance, you may be unpleasantly surprised at what they require you do just to apply. You don't want to put out that much effort and lose every shred of your privacy if you have no chance of being accepted anyway.

After I got accepted and had coverage for a couple of years, my insurer (Mutual of Omaha) sent me a letter telling me they were getting out of the health insurance business in my state!

I went back to the agent, and she informed me that the state I live in offers insurance for those denied coverage by private insurers. I had no idea there was that option. Spendy, but it filled the gap for me until I could retire and get coverage through an earlier employer.

My agent didn't charge me anything, other than she probably got part of my premium for those couple years I was insured.

Anyway, an insurance agent helped me here in Alaska.

[Martha]

FAQS - MIB Group, Inc.

When you apply for individual insurance your health information can become part of a file at MIB and then available to other insurers with your authorization.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martha FAQS - MIB Group, Inc. When you apply for individual insurance your health information can become part of a file at MIB and then available to other insurers with your authorization.

This is stupid and, IMO, should be illegal. It should not matter whether you've been denied. The only thing that should matter is whether or not your conditions and history meet their underwriting guidelines. It seems absurd that you could meet some insurer's guidelines if you hadn't ever been denied, but could get denied with the exact same medical history if you applied somewhere else where they had different guidelines.

[Beststash]

Man - What a dilemma . I can get group insurance through my group policy but thought it might be better to try an HSA to lower my premiums. But now I find out that if I am denied, and it appears that I definitely will be, I will become a part of some sort of insider agency that shares this info to other in the industry and it in no way will be something that is a positive for me - is it even worth the attempt? I just hate it when I shoot myself in the foot - what to do?

Peace