Insurance and pre existing conditions

[jollor]

Hey everybody,
My question is how will my ESRD figure into everything if I ever switch jobs and insurance? My kidney problems were diagnosed under my current insurance so if I ever switch jobs and switch insurance will they still cover my kidney stuff or will it be consider a pre existing condition? I hate the thought of being stuck in a job just to keep the insurance. I live in the Greenville, SC in the United States if that helps you answer my question. I appreciate any help.







EDITED: Moved to work section-kitkatz,moderator

[Sluff]

Hey everybody,
My question is how will my ESRD figure into everything if I ever switch jobs and insurance? My kidney problems were diagnosed under my current insurance so if I ever switch jobs and switch insurance will they still cover my kidney stuff or will it be consider a pre existing condition? I hate the thought of being stuck in a job just to keep the insurance. I live in the Greenville, SC in the United States if that helps you answer my question. I appreciate any help.

If you are in the states and you switch jobs, after you wait the required time to get insurance you shouldn't be denied if it is a group policy.

Don't attempt to get your own because it ain't happening. I tried. Do more investigating in case I'm wrong but I'm 90% sure or I wouldn't have posted this.

[st789]

What about those have their own businesses?  Is this mean we all must get insurance through groups but not individual.

[livecam]

If you were to switch jobs after becoming a renal patient I would want to make sure the new job was a sure thing without a probationary period or the need to wait for medical coverage.

If you have a good job now with good medical coverage think long and hard before you make any changes. In our situation it is often better to leave well enough alone when it comes to employment and medical coverage.

A decision between continued employment and disability had to be made when I got sick.  I chose to keep the job rather than face the unknown on disability and hope I could put things back together after a transplant someday.  

It turned out that was a really good decision.  I spent a few years on dialysis, got the transplant, and never missed a beat coverage or income wise.  

Be careful whatever you decide.

[Chicken Little]

There is no waiting period for coverage of pre-existing conditions as long as you don't let your coverage  lapse.  It can't even lapse a day.  I tell people not to cancel their other coverage until their new policy is active and they have the new coverage cards in their hands.  The only plans that may have a waiting period for pre-existing conditions are Long Term Disability, Long Term Care, etc.   

Remember though, you will not be eligible for FMLA for one year if you change jobs. 

[jollor]

I don't plan to leave my job for another anytime soon. I'm just curious for future reference. I basically didn't want to be stuck with the thought of working where I work forever and ever. Thanks for the info. It sounds like if it ever does happen I will have to really be look into everything. 

[kitkatz]

Now you know why my school district is stuck with me and I with them. Can you imagine trying to get hired while a renal patient into a strenuous teaching position?  I stay because I do not want to deal with uncertainty. Besides this district has a strong union and I feel I will not get screwed over because I am ill.

[rimbo74]

I want a new job right when I return from long term disability after my transplant.  I've stayed with my job due to medical coverage.  It's good to know as long as I keep my coverage, I cant be dropped.

[BigSky]

There is no waiting period for coverage of pre-existing conditions as long as you don't let your coverage  lapse.  It can't even lapse a day.  I tell people not to cancel their other coverage until their new policy is active and they have the new coverage cards in their hands.  The only plans that may have a waiting period for pre-existing conditions are Long Term Disability, Long Term Care, etc.   

Remember though, you will not be eligible for FMLA for one year if you change jobs. 

I am wondering about this.

I understood this to apply to private insurance, but a kid up at the unit says it also applies if a person is on medicare or medicaid.  Being that once they had a transplant or something and went to work, they could get insurance through the place of work without  a waiting period because medicare and medicaid were considered as a prior insurance coverage.

Anyone know for sure??

[andrea]

I know that when someone loses Medicaid, either because of eligibility issues or because they get on a private/group plan, Medicaid sends them a letter to take to employers and/or insurance companies stating they have had Medicaid and any pre-existing condition clauses cannot be applied to them. I would think Medicare would be the same way.

[stauffenberg]

I was born in the United States and lived there until I was 27, but since I had had a 'pre-existing' medical condition since age 14 which I knew would cause me medical insurance problems for the rest of my life, I realized I had no alternative but to become a medical refugee from 'The Land of the Free' and move to some country with socialized medicine.  Now I live in Canada, and just by virtue of being a permanent resident here, I get a little plastic card which is all I have to show at any doctor's office, hospital, or diagnostic clinic to get all my healthcare for free.  The United Nations Declaration of Universal Human Rights in 1948 stated that universal access to healthcare is a human right, which thus cannot be denied by financial considerations, but the United States signed that Declaration with a 'reservation' for that clause, which amounted to saying that only the healthy and the rich had that right in the U.S.

[st789]

Health insurance in the united states let just say.....headache.

[paris]

My husband changed jobs last year and our biggest concern was insurance continuing to cover me. No problem at all - as long as I had coverage and it did not lapse, they had no problem covering me. One letter was all I had to send and there wasn't a beat missed. It was a very smooth transition. The key is not having a lapse in coverage.  I was very glad it went so smoothly.

[jbeany]

If you are considering a job change, you need to find out if the new insurance has a clause for pre-existing conditions.  If it's a big company, most don't, and will simply cover you after the probationary period.  But do make sure you can do Cobra coverage from your old insurance - you certainly don't want to get stuck with massive bills from not being covered for 3 months in between!

[Bajanne]

In my situation, dialysis is free if you don't have insurance.  When my appointment as a teacher in a public school ends August 31, my coverage will end.  If I am still here, I would have no problem for dialysis, but any other medical problem will cost me.  The school I am hoping to go to does not have an insurance plan.  HOwever, I was told that I need to go to the insurance company and change over my insurance (right now it is subsidized by the government), sign up to pay the whole thing and my insurance can continue.
I am glad I saw this thread, because I had forgotten that I need to go to the insurance company and get that worked out.