If I move out of my state, what happens to my health insurance? (moving, coverage)

[Louison]

Maybe I read here once that if you move, your health insurance coverage is not effective. That maybe it even differs from state to state.

We are able to stay on our current group at our own expense when we leave the current job. If we decide to move out of this snow/cold to somewhere warmer, hopefully, is our coverage still in effect?

Does coverage depend on your plan?

I'd like to hear from those who might have experiences regarding this question.

Thanks.

Lou

[PNW-type-gal]

It entirely depends on what health insurance you have. You need to read the policy and exclusions, or call them and ask.

[Orangeish]

Do you know what type of plan it is? HMO, PPO, EPO?

[bibit612]

When you move out of state, you move out of your normal provider network, so while you may be covered, you may be charged the higher out-of-network rate.

It's best to check before you move what the impact is on your insurance, as the other posters may have said.

[texdav]

It really depends on the coverage.I have a freind who is with bluecross/blue shield like I am. He got sick out of state and called the insurnce compny. hey gave him a hospital nearby that they had a contrct with as a approved provider. He paid the network price.Its best to check because with otu of network proviers you not only usually get less compensation paid by the insurance but you are liable for the full price that the provider charges as there is no network price contract. This coud be huge increase in what you owe.The insurance even iof they decide toi pay full network payment ;that is based on contract price. That could mean a hospital bill that is contracted at 5;000 could be 40,000. You owe waht the netowrk does not pay of the 40'000.That 35,000+ you owe provider.

[CarolL]

I recently called our BC/BS to ask the same question. When DH retires, he loses his health insurance, so I was asking if we could go on Cobra and still get coverage if we moved out of state. Our policy permits that; however, as someone else here said, you will be paying more because more than likely your care will be out of network.

And, yes, plans differ from state to state. I found that plans that would cover us in our current state do not even exist in the state we want to move to. And we more than likely will not qualify for that state's govt plans. We're not sure what we're going to do about health insurance yet, so he's not going to retire until we get it figured out. (This country needs a national policy...now!)

BTW, getting sick out of state and moving out of state could mean very different things regarding insurance coverage.

Anyway, bottom line, call your insurance company and ask. Every plan/company is different.

[deckdoc]

My coverage actually got better when I retired and moved out of state~ so it depends on your insurance provider and their communitee~ check with your insurance provider!

[Minervah]

When it comes to health insurance, one size does not fit all. You MUST find out what your own policy will and will not cover. No one here can tell you that because they do not have your plan. Too often people think like "Just because my friend has Blue Cross and it covers such-and-such, so will mine." Absolutely not true.

Insurance plans are like snowflakes:no two are alike.

[Louison]

Thanks for the thoughtful, honest answers.

Definitely, some phone calls to make before any final plans are made.