portable health insurance (moving, states, coverage, retired)

[nancy thereader]

Does anyone know if , when you move to another state & you have health insurance from your job that is supposedly for life, does that insurance just continue on? Or is it altered ?
The reason I'm asking is because on NPR , there was a segment about people who were retired and were limited to relocating certain states (NJ was one) because any old illness (and who does not have one at 62 + ? ) is considered a prior existing condition and is thus, in some states , not covered. Is that true? Thanks. nancy

[PNW-type-gal]

This should probably be in the Health section, but can see how it's an important retirement issue. The answer is one of those "it depends" things. If your health care/insurance from a company who relies on PPOs and HMOs who are under contract, it's possible that they only have providers in specific areas who are approved, and that moving out of that area might mean that you either don't have ANY coverage or your coverage becomes very limited.

The pre-existing conditions protections which apply to people who switch jobs and hence insurance DO NOT apply to private purchases of insurance, so, yes, if you buy a policy on your own, it's possible to fall into the "pre-existing condition" trap.

[mm34b]

When I retired, I just took my health insurance with me to my new location. However, if my original plan was limited to a local or regional geographic area, I would have had to convert it to one offered in my new area. Since it wasn't, the only action needed was to submit a change of address.

[Baltic_Celt]

Nancy -

PNW gave a great answer. This is such an important issue that I'd rely upon no one but the H.R. Dept. or whomever handles your insurance at your own company. Each insurance/company differs (widely differs in some cases, as I've seen in personal experience) & you don't want to fall to disadvantage by missing the 1 little point that causes your healthcare to nullify, like moving to a state which triggers an exclusionary clause as in the example you described.

This is far too important to not go only to the source. I'm not retirement age, but have moved a handful of times, several times holding onto previous insurance & found odd little quirks that made me have to inconveniently work-around oddities.

Best of luck... VV

[norm]

nancy,

I did some research yesterday on health insurance plans in some of the states we are interested in and our plan is not offered in any of the states. You can do a Google search for this info. You can also call doctors and hospital in any area and inquire as to what plans they accept.

[nancy thereader]

Thank you for all your suggestions. You guys are great as always.