Louisiana Health Insurance

If you are currently planning to buy new health coverage in Louisiana, it’s a good idea to first learn about the relevant regulations and restrictions on the health insurance industry in this state.  The list below contains a number of helpful tips and cautions that will put you on the right track toward finding the coverage you want.

• Health insurance companies that operate in Louisiana are required by law to include guaranteed-renewability provisions in every policy they sell.  This means that, as long as you have met the terms of your contract and paid all premiums on time, you are entitled to renew any existing coverage as many times as you like.  In addition, your health insurance cannot be cancelled for any reason without your specific consent.
• Insurers in Louisiana are allowed to specify in any new policy that certain pre-existing conditions will not be covered for up to one full year.  This means that costs related to any such condition, defined as a health problem for which you were diagnosed or treated within a year prior to starting your new policy, will not be covered by your insurer during that period.  Fortunately, you can make sure that you never wait twice for the same health issue to be covered by maintaining continuous health coverage for at least twelve months before moving to a new health plan.
• Louisiana does not require any insurer to sell a new health policy to everyone who applies.  If you are currently ill or subject to significant risk factors your application for coverage may be denied outright.  If you already have health insurance here it cannot normally be cancelled on these grounds, but you may instead see your premiums increase due to poor health, age, or for similar reasons.  The degree to which your premiums may rise is limited by state law, however.
• Companies that sell health insurance in Louisiana are required by law to offer group coverage to all small businesses with at least two, but no more than fifty, employees.  The insurance they provide must also be comparable to those that other small businesses in the same state already enjoy.  These group health policies may require a minimum level of employee participation, and/or employer contributions, to remain in effect.
• As with individual health insurance, the pricing of a small company’s group policy can fluctuate— within certain bounds— based on the risk factors of its members.  Additionally, the plan can never be terminated on the grounds of illness or injury among those who are currently covered.
• Louisiana does not consider a self-employed person to be a “small business” for the purpose of purchasing group health coverage unless he or she has at least one other employee.  If a self-employed worker decides to acquire individual coverage instead, the policy’s premiums may be partially tax-deductible.

Information is the most powerful tool at your disposal when dealing with the health-insurance marketplace.  As long as you are willing to research your options and weigh competing offers, you will be much more likely to find exactly the kind of coverage you need at a price you can afford.

From Our Customers