Question:
I am thinking of changing Insurance to a company that pays, how long to I have to wait

I am changing to Blue Cross, Blue Shield. If anyone has done this and had luck, please let me know!    — Bardie B. (posted on June 5, 2001)

June 5, 2001
The wait depends on the insurance company's policy that you change to. If they have a pre-existing clause. If you've been to a doctor in reference to wls then you would have a pre-existing condition. If you've not seen a doctor about wls then your not going to run into a problem. I changed insurance because my policy had a written exclusion for wls. I knew about the exclusion from reading my policy and didn't want to have to fight them so, change to hubby's insurance on July 1, 2000, had my first eval. with a doctor on July 30, 2000, scheduled my surgery for August 28, 2000, and proceded. Had I seen a doctor on my original insurance I would have had to wait a year before my new policy would pay for anything to do with my "pre-existing" condition. I hope this helps.
   — Alicia B.

June 5, 2001
I had NO insurance and then got BCBS of Al. I hadn't seen a Dr and was not diagnosed as MO, but they told me that they wouldn't pre-approve anything that "could be considered" pre-existing. But that if I had insurance prior to them they would credit the time I had with that insurance to the 1 yr waiting period. So if you have had insurance for over a year all you have to do is get a form from BCBS and give them some info and they will remove the waiting period. Anything less than 1 year will be "credited" to your waiting period. Did I confuse you? If I did just e-mail me and I will try and explain better. E-mail: [email protected] Good Luck!
   — imano1momy

June 5, 2001
Clinton signed a federal law while he was in office forbidding insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions if a person has had continuous coverage. If you have had no more than a (can't remember if it's one or three) month lapse in coverage, the new insurance is legally required to cover you. In addition, they cannot hold an employer-imposed waiting period against you. For example, my current company makes employees wait three months from their start date for insurance coverage to begin.
   — PT LawMom