California Health Insurance

Anyone who wants to buy health insurance in California will find the process considerably easier if they take a moment to look over the rules and regulations under which the insurers here must operate.  Although state laws require slightly more consideration for consumers than in many other states, there are still a few important facts to bear in mind before shopping for new coverage.

• As is common among most states’ health insurance regulations, California-based insurers are required to offer guaranteed renewability to their customers— that is, they are forbidden by law to cancel your existing health insurance policy as long as the premiums are paid and your original application does not contain any false information. 
• While health insurers in California are forbidden to cancel your policy solely on the basis of illness, they are also allowed to deny a new health policy to someone they deem a special risk, or someone that is already ill.  If you already have coverage, they are permitted to raise your premiums due to injury or illness.
• Insurers in California are permitted to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, but only within certain limits.  “Pre-existing conditions” are defined as any health issues for which you received diagnosis and/or treatment before being covered by your new policy.
• Health insurance companies in California can only deny coverage for pre-existing conditions for a limited period, after which they are required to cover the condition.  The length of this period can vary from company to company, and in many cases it is possible to change your coverage without having to go through the full exclusion period once again.
• If you already have an individual policy from a California health insurer, and that policy covers dependents, then your insurer is required by law to provide health coverage for any newborn or newly-adopted children for up to 31 days.  Policies that cover dependents may also be required to provide you with additional coverage or benefits under certain circumstances.
• Small businesses operating in California— meaning any business with between 2 and 50 employees— are guaranteed by law the ability to purchase any form of small-business group health insurance that is being offered to other companies.  This may be subject to certain minimum-enrollment requirements, however, depending upon the size and membership of the covered organization.
• California state law prohibits health insurers from charging different rates between small businesses based on the health of the company’s personnel.  Premiums may vary based on age or location, however.  As with individual health insurance, a small-business group policy cannot be cancelled on the grounds that a subscriber has fallen ill.
• Any self-employed worker in California is allowed to purchase individual or small-business health insurance at his or her discretion, so long as the company has at least one employee.  In the case of individual insurance, a self-employed person’s health premiums will generally be partially tax-deductible.

Due to California’s regulations requiring guaranteed renewability, it makes the most sense to acquire health coverage while you are as young and healthy as possible.  When you do decide to start looking around for health coverage, be sure to compare competing rates and read over all policy provisions carefully before making your choice.

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