When you move to another state, what are you doing about your health ins.? (moving, states)

[Roma]

Hi, I'm curious what snow birds and retirees do about their health insurance when they move to another state. I have private insurance with a pre-existing and want to move to another state. I just found out that I would have to re-apply in the other state and with this pre-existing I might not get coverage.

How are you guys doing it and what are the obstacles that you faced?

[texdav]

I have no plans to move to another state but if I did any state that has blue cross;
/shield :I would be covered in.But my policy is thru my former employer.

[cdelena]

Before we moved I shopped for a new insurer, filled out all the forms and disclosures, and now have (more expensive) insurance in the new state. One of the things I really want to see in health care reform is nationwide uniform regulations. Each state caters to their own lobby with the consumer paying the freight.

[deckdoc]

my health insuranse and helth costs dropped when I changed to another state! Could get TRICARE Prime in new location and had to settle for standard in old location~so saving quite a bit by moving!

[PhxBarb]

The way I understood it was that, as long as you are continuously covered, with no breaks in the coverage, no one can consider anything pre existing. So, if you were to go on Cobra for a while so you can move, then get a letter of continuous coverage from the Cobra plan and take it to the new insurance co. in the new state, they would have to cover you.

[brightdoglover]

A co-worker of mine who had a serious chronic illness moved to Arizona for her health. Before terminating at the job, she switched her insurance to Blue Cross because it is national, not a local HMO. She then transferred her Mass. BC to Arizona's without any difficulty, as far as I know.

[esselcue]

I will lose my work-related insurance in January when I retire and have signed on with a PPO. The pre-existing will be covered as long as I have a certificate of credible care from my current provider. The PPO is a nationwide firm so if I move I should be okay, just need to locate new providers. My main worry is hospitalization, although I am relatively healthy for an older broad () and this PPO contracts with our local hospital. But each of us is different so use your computer and shop around. It is somewhat limiting if you have pre-existing things (blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes) but you can find coverage if you are tenacious.

[Retired Law 08]

when I retired I have medical coverage that carried over...I moved from NY
to PA...they have doctors out here that take my coverage...I made sure..
I checked it out online,but I still keep my doctor in NY...only 2 hours away...
my hospital coverage is good also....but one should always go to the site of their medical coverage to see if it's taken in other states

[texdav]

Originally Posted by esselcue

I will lose my work-related insurance in January when I retire and have signed on with a PPO. The pre-existing will be covered as long as I have a certificate of credible care from my current provider. The PPO is a nationwide firm so if I move I should be okay, just need to locate new providers. My main worry is hospitalization, although I am relatively healthy for an older broad () and this PPO contracts with our local hospital. But each of us is different so use your computer and shop around. It is somewhat limiting if you have pre-existing things (blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes) but you can find coverage if you are tenacious.

If its a PPO and a national company they should just give you a list of approved hospitals.Usually they will have lists of providers including Hospitals by region of a state.

[staywarm2]

BC/BS
We had Blue Cross through my husband's employer in FL. When we moved to GA, BC would not cover us under the FL policy. They said it was an entirely different division. So since we are the only employees in GA, we had to get individual PPO's. The deductible is horrendous and the coverage so-so. Don't count on moving your Blue Cross/Blue Shield to another state without checking first!