The future of health care reform is clouded by repeal efforts and court rulings, but if you need an individual health insurance policy now, these sites will assist you.
Scan your options: Here, you can quickly see how many companies and plans are available to someone in your age group and fam
ily status. There’s a questionnaire, and then you get to shop by monthly premium, or compare plans within one or a few companies that offer health and dental insurance in your state. www.ehealthinsurance.com
On your own: Health care legislation changed the way individual policies are handled, but insurers for now can still reject applicants because of their medical history, and the terms for covering dependent children to age 26 are different and could exclude your adult children. This post at Kiplinger.com describes the regulatory differences faced by shoppers for individual policies to help you know what to expect. go.philly.com/healthins1
Reform timeline: The Kaiser Family Foundation has this timeline that shows how the insurance changes kick in over time, and where things stand right now. Twenty-one provisions of the reform law are due to become effective in 2011. Some of the most controversial provisions, including the key, but court-challenged, individual mandate, aren’t supposed to become effective until 2014. go.philly.com/healthins2
If you need temporary insurance after a job loss, here are fact sheets from the Department of Labor on how to continue your employer coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, otherwise known as COBRA. go.philly.com/healthins3
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