New Hampshire Health Insurance

New Hampshire’s health insurance regulations are focused heavily on making sure that the individual consumer has as many options as possible, which means that shopping for health coverage here should be a relatively painless process.  That doesn’t mean, however, that you should start shopping without first learning about the rules that are in place— knowing what you don’t need to worry about will save you a huge amount of time and effort, and will put you in a better position to find the highest-quality policy at the lowest possible price.  To that end, here is a brief summary of New Hampshire’s health insurance guidelines and regulations.

• As is the case in most states, New Hampshire requires all insurance companies to add a guaranteed renewability clause to every health policy they sell.  This clause requires your insurer to renew your policy as many times as you wish, assuming that you have kept up your end of the bargain and paid your premiums in full.  You are also protected from having your coverage unexpectedly cancelled after your health worsens.
• New Hampshire allows health insurers to exclude pre-existing conditions from coverage, but only under very strict limitations.  First, only those health issues that have been diagnosed or treated within three months before the policy begins may be considered, and any coverage exclusion may only last for up to nine months.  Finally, any elapsed exclusion period for a particular condition will credit toward any new exclusion that may be imposed when you switch to a different insurer.
• An important fact to know about when buying health insurance here is that no insurer in New Hampshire may legally decline to sell a new health policy to anyone on the basis of less-than-perfect health, gender, age, or most other considerations.  Not only that, but the degree to which these factors can affect your premiums is also strictly regulated by state law.  All of this adds up to mean that you will have a huge array of options to consider when you decide to begin shopping for coverage.
• Small businesses in New Hampshire are automatically guaranteed access to group health coverage from the insurer of its choice.  Those companies with between 2 and 50 employees can choose from among any kind of policy that is already being offered to other small businesses in the same state.  Although the premiums paid for coverage can vary from one company to another, insurers are forbidden to take things like health status and age into account when determining what to charge for these health plans.
• Any group health plan purchased by a small business may include a provision requiring that some condition be met in order to maintain coverage, such as a certain minimum percentage of employees that must participate in the company’s health plan.  Failing to meet the requirement may mean the termination of coverage, but considerations like the health of the covered employees can never be used as a pretext for cancelling a small company’s health plan.
• New Hampshire’s laws treat self-employed individuals as “small businesses” for the purpose of buying group health coverage, even if there are no other employees involved.  This option exists alongside the more conventional option of purchasing individual health coverage; in the latter case, a portion of the premiums for a self-employed person’s health insurance may be tax-deductible.

It can be seductive to think that consumer-friendly regulations found in a state like New Hampshire mean that you don’t have to be careful when shopping for health insurance here, but savvy shoppers should know that there is always a benefit to being observant and selective when buying something this important.  Always be sure to read over any policy carefully before signing on, and don’t pick the first offer you get without comparing it to quotes from competing companies.  If you’re vigilant, you stand an excellent chance of finding the kind of health coverage you need at a great price.

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