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affordable health insurance
In the vast majority of states, when you apply for individual health insurance coverage, you are asked to provide health information about yourself and any family members to be covered. When determining rates, insurance companies use the medical information on these applications. Sometimes they will request additional information from an applicant's physician or ask the applicants for clarification.
In a group situation, a single policy covers a specific group of people as opposed to a single person as individual policies do. Because of this special nature, insurance companies have to make certain that the number of people covered by a group policy stays at or above a certain level.
Additionally, using the all-cause method there is usually carryover provision that allows you to carry over expenses from the last three months of one calendar year to the next. If your policy covers the entire family, then a family deductible will apply rather than individual deductibles. In other words if a policy’s individual deductible is $200 a family deductible might be $400. This can be very advantageous because a six member family would only have to meet $400 rather than $1200 individually.
If COBRA does not apply in your case—perhaps because you work for an employer with fewer than 20 employees—you may be able to convert your group policy to individual coverage. The advantage of that option is that you may not have to pass a medical exam, although an exclusion based on a preexisting condition may apply, depending on your medical history and your insurance history.
Stock and Mutual. Not only can an insurance company be categorized by the type of insurance, they can also be considered in terms of its ownership as either a stock or mutual company.
In other words, while you may no longer be able to conduct the duties of your current occupation you may be able to perform activities in a related field.
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