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> Insurance companies won't insure people with many preexisting conditions, and when they will insure them the rates can be completely impossible to swing. Yes

by anamax 15y ago

> Insurance companies won't insure people with many preexisting conditions, and when they will insure them the rates can be completely impossible to swing. Yes they will IF you don't let your coverage lapse. How many people don't know about their preexisting conditions? If their preexisting conditions are serious, why are they letting their coverage lapse? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Insurance_Portability_and_Accountability_Act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Insurance_Portability_an...

neild 15y ago
How many people don't know about their preexisting conditions? If their preexisting conditions are serious, why are they letting their coverage lapse? If you look up the cost of individual medical coverage and the amount of money provided by unemployment insurance, you may find yourself with the answer to that question.
- anamax 15y ago
  > If you look up the cost of individual medical coverage and the amount of money provided by unemployment insurance. I've not only looked up the cost, I've paid it while being unemployed (and "old"). What's your relevant experience? Yes, it cost money, but so does housing and other essentials. My "not healthcare" expenses are very low and yet healthcare wasn't what would push me over the edge. I didn't even bother to shop.
  - eli 15y ago
    If you have a serious pre-existing condition, it's unlikely that any insurer will offer you coverage at any price, unless they are obligated to. I had a good friend with a relatively minor pre-existing condition get flat-out denied for coverage
tptacek 15y ago
We've just recently had this discussion (you & I), and I'm reasonably sure that this is not in fact universally true: that there are plenty of places where continuous group coverage does not translate to insurability on the private market.
- anamax 15y ago
  > I'm reasonably sure that this is not in fact universally true: that there are plenty of places I know that you believe that, which is why I posted a link to a description of some relevant (US) federal legislation. (I know that there is other relevant legislation but ....) As I mentioned, I've paid for individual coverage out of pocket while unemployed (and old). My experience does not match the common stories and I'm pretty sure that I'm not a special snowflake.
  - tptacek 15y ago
    The HIPAA continuous coverage and preexisting condition exclusion statutes apply to group coverage, not the individual market. There are states where either (i) individual health insurance is regulated as if it were group coverage or (ii) sole proprietors can obtain group plans. Illinois is a large, populous state where I believe neither of those are true. I'm glad you were able to obtain coverage on the private market, but when I started my company in 2005, I tried to pay for it for my family and various members of my family were declined from every insurer in Illinois. I have had continuous health care coverage since 1994. You made allusions to our "willingness to pay for the true cost of our coverage"† (my paraphrase) in our previous conversation, which I assure you has nothing to do with my complaint. We weren't charged extra (though an extra charge would have been unfair, I'd have paid it and gotten on with my life). We were refused any coverage. The solution to this problem was to set up a group plan at Matasano, which we were able to do because (a) we're large relative to most YC companies and (b) we have a full-time finance/contracts person. That solution does nothing for whoever takes the job this thread is discussing. † You also asked where the perceived belligerence in my last reply to you came from; implying that I'm complaining that I couldn't get a free lunch is where it came from. The implication is particularly irritating because my complaint isn't that the "food" (to torture the metaphor) was too expensive; it's that the sellers decided to starve us.
chairface 15y ago
This just isn't true. I have Crohn's disease, have never let my coverage lapse, and I cannot buy individual health insurance at any price. I am an otherwise healthy, non-smoking, exercising 31 year old male.

by anamax 15y ago

neild 15y ago

How many people don't know about their preexisting conditions? If their preexisting conditions are serious, why are they letting their coverage lapse? If you look up the cost of individual medical coverage and the amount of money provided by unemployment insurance, you may find yourself with the answer to that question.

anamax 15y ago
> If you look up the cost of individual medical coverage and the amount of money provided by unemployment insurance. I've not only looked up the cost, I've paid it while being unemployed (and "old"). What's your relevant experience? Yes, it cost money, but so does housing and other essentials. My "not healthcare" expenses are very low and yet healthcare wasn't what would push me over the edge. I didn't even bother to shop.
- eli 15y ago
  If you have a serious pre-existing condition, it's unlikely that any insurer will offer you coverage at any price, unless they are obligated to. I had a good friend with a relatively minor pre-existing condition get flat-out denied for coverage

tptacek 15y ago

We've just recently had this discussion (you & I), and I'm reasonably sure that this is not in fact universally true: that there are plenty of places where continuous group coverage does not translate to insurability on the private market.

anamax 15y ago
> I'm reasonably sure that this is not in fact universally true: that there are plenty of places I know that you believe that, which is why I posted a link to a description of some relevant (US) federal legislation. (I know that there is other relevant legislation but ....) As I mentioned, I've paid for individual coverage out of pocket while unemployed (and old). My experience does not match the common stories and I'm pretty sure that I'm not a special snowflake.
- tptacek 15y ago
  The HIPAA continuous coverage and preexisting condition exclusion statutes apply to group coverage, not the individual market. There are states where either (i) individual health insurance is regulated as if it were group coverage or (ii) sole proprietors can obtain group plans. Illinois is a large, populous state where I believe neither of those are true. I'm glad you were able to obtain coverage on the private market, but when I started my company in 2005, I tried to pay for it for my family and various members of my family were declined from every insurer in Illinois. I have had continuous health care coverage since 1994. You made allusions to our "willingness to pay for the true cost of our coverage"† (my paraphrase) in our previous conversation, which I assure you has nothing to do with my complaint. We weren't charged extra (though an extra charge would have been unfair, I'd have paid it and gotten on with my life). We were refused any coverage. The solution to this problem was to set up a group plan at Matasano, which we were able to do because (a) we're large relative to most YC companies and (b) we have a full-time finance/contracts person. That solution does nothing for whoever takes the job this thread is discussing. † You also asked where the perceived belligerence in my last reply to you came from; implying that I'm complaining that I couldn't get a free lunch is where it came from. The implication is particularly irritating because my complaint isn't that the "food" (to torture the metaphor) was too expensive; it's that the sellers decided to starve us.

chairface 15y ago

This just isn't true. I have Crohn's disease, have never let my coverage lapse, and I cannot buy individual health insurance at any price. I am an otherwise healthy, non-smoking, exercising 31 year old male.