I hope that you weren't presented with this amazing opportunity by an
unsolicited e-mail or a plastic sign tacked to a pole...

When I first got insurance, which was maybe 10 years ago, it said that I
would not be covered for pre-existing conditions for the first year.  I
remember being afraid that something would happen to me before the year was
up and I'd be stuck with a huge bill, but I would have been stuck with a
huge bill anyway without insurance.  Besides asthma, I also have Type I
diabetes.  Fortunately, I was able to go the year without ever going to a
doctor.  Within the next year, my breathing got really bad and I finally
went to a doctor and had no problems with the insurance.

I'm in New York, and it was explained to me by an insurance broker like
this:

If you let your coverage lapse for more than 63 days, any future insurance
you get can enforce the pre-existing condition rule.  If you were without
coverage for less than 63 days, they can't deny coverage.  I'm not sure if
insurance companies can pick a number out of the air when it comes to
non-coverage or if it's always a year.  If you elect COBRA for 18 months,
and then still don't have insurance after that, you will be on your own.
But say you get a new job with group coverage three years from now.  They
can deny coverage for your asthma for a year, but after that you'll be
covered.

With my health problems (diabetes being #1), it would take more than a big
pay raise for me to give up my health insurance.  If I had to pay
out-of-pocket for all of the medications & DME I'm currently using, it would
be over $1,100/month just for that.  Add in regular doctor visits & lab
tests, and it's even more.

--
Liz

The laws vary from state to state, so you should find out what
would happen if you had your own insurance for a time, and then
went on a group plan.   In one state there might be a law
allowing for pre-existing conditions to be uncovered for a period
of time (six months or a year), but in other states the law may
state that for group insurance, all pre-existing conditions must
be covered from day one.

The second thing you should do is to call a few good insurance
brokers in your area to ask about securing private insurance.  I
did this when I went from eighteen months on COBRA to
self-employed, and found out that they were all going to charge
me in excess of $1,000/month, AND put lifetime riders on the
contract stating they'd never have to pay for anything that was
allergy or asthma related.  Not meds, not doctors visits, not
allergy shots, etc.  I ended up going on Illinois CHIP plan -
their high risk plan - and at the age of 50, I'm paying about
$700/month, but there were no riders, and pre-existing conditions
were automatically covered and paid 80/20% after my $500
deductible was met.  My asthma was resolved in '03 (see
www.asthmastory.com - my asthma was caused by bacteria), and I
had just filled out an application for Blue Cross direct and was
ready to mail it in earlier this year, when I was diagnosed with
cancer.  I'll now be stuck with this pricey insurance for the
rest of my life - but it's a great plan and they can't increase
my premium alone and they can't drop me.

With asthma and diabetes, you're looking at high premiums and
lifetime riders for both conditions if you get private insurance.
You might want to see if that's going to eat up any profit you
thought you'd be gaining in switching jobs.

Good luck to you.

I think the biggest thing is that it is all dependant on state laws. So you
will probablyneed to look for a state specific source of info. Some states
do not alow exclusion for pre-existing conditions and some severely limit
it - so the whole thing may be moot.

The good news is that if you ever go get back into group coverage they
usually do not even ask about individual health issues. You just become part
of the group.