Health Insurance 101 with Industry Insider and Watchdog, C. Steven Tucker  

Show Notes

• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 5/3/2009 9:25 PM UTC

  United Health Care Now Sells Insurance for Health Insurance
  

  United Health Care now offers the "Continuity" plan. The "Continuity" plan is a concept enacted by the CEO of United Health Care & its subsidiary Golden Rule Insurance company. The concept is a brilliant one indeed because one of the greatest challenges to all health insurance brokers is the struggle to maintain "Guaranteed Insurability" for clients who have been diagnosed with a host of conditions such as Diabetes or Cancer. The onset of either one of these illnesses (and many more) will render one "uninsurable" on the individual major medical market. This can become a very serious problem if one looses their employer sponsored group coverage and can not either afford their State's risk pool coverage, or they do not live in a State that provides a State Insurance Risk Pool.
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  The "Continuity" plan resolves this problem by allowing insurable consumers to purchase any plan that United Health Care/Golden rule offers at only 20% of the normal required premium for that plan. Consumers can purchase this plan whilst they are covered by an employer sponsored group health insurance plan that offers them Guaranteed Insurability. Whilst the consumer is still insured by their employer sponsored group plan the United Health Care policy of their choice goes in to a "dormant" state. In other words, the policy remains in force as long as the insured pays only 20% of the required monthly premium for that product.
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  The moment that the consumer looses employer sponsored group coverage, or is faced with a hefty Cobra continuation premium. They can then elect to "awaken" the policy out of its "dormant" state and the policy will then begin to cover them on a Guaranteed Insurability basis without the need for underwriting. This means that if a consumer were to develop a major medical condition that would render them uninsurable on the individual major medical market whilst the "Continuity" plan was in its "dormant" state, their pre existing conditions would continue to be covered seamlessly from day one once the consumer elects to "awaken" their "Continuity" coverage. Once the policy is "awakened" the insured would now have to pay the entire monthly premium required to maintain that individual health insurance policy. But as anyone in the industry knows, individual policies often require a fraction of the premium that is required to maintain a Cobra continuation plan.
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  Once the insured has retained another employer sponsored group plan that provides Gauranteed Insurability (presumably by securing another employment position) then the policy goes back in to its "dormant" state and the premium is subsequently reduced to only 20% or the required monthly premium. Essentially this concept allows any consumer to "float" in and out of employer sponsored group coverage whilst also maintaining the all important "Guaranteed Insurability" clause so valuable to those who have been rendered "uninsurable" on the individual major medical market. For more about this brilliant concept click here.

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  To see a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) relating to Health Insurance, click here.

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  About the author: C. Steven Tucker, is the President of Small Business Insurance Services, Inc. He is a multi-state licensed insurance broker who has been serving the Small Business community and Self-Employed for 15 years. C. Steven has served as a Subject matter expert for the Wall Street Journal and Fortune Small Business Magazine and hosts his own internet radio show, entitled, "Health Insurance 101." He is also touted for being a consumer watchdog against greedy insurance companies, insurance scams and unscrupulous agents on Twitter.

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  Note: This policy may not be available in some states.

  • Tags:
  • broker
  • continuity
  • declined
  • guaranteed insuranab
  • health plan
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