Pre-existing asthma condition
originally posted: 11/22/2006 reposted: 2/18/2011 This post has not been recently reviewed or revised by the author and may be out of date. If you notice an error or are in doubt, please send a new question by email or ask for an update. Email asktony@tonynovak.com.
Q: We are looking for short term health insurance coverage for a month as my husband changing jobs from the military to a civilian job. We have a son with allergies who has asthma like attacks a couple of times a year. He is currently on medication and everything is under control. Everyone else in the family is healthy. Would this condition be classified as a pre existing condition that would be excluded from many short term insurance companies?
A: Yes, the asthma you describe is a pre-existing medical condition. The cost of the asthma medication will not be covered by an individual insurance policy but will be covered under the next group insurance policy as long as you keep short term medical insurance in place during the time between jobs. This guarantees full coverage for pre-existing conditions under your new employer health plan in the future. If you leave a gap in coverage of more than 2 months, however, that takeover does not apply and you will have go through a waiting period again before the asthma will be covered. In your case it makes sense to get insurance that excludes asthma. The additional cost of COBRA coverage that would pay for the asthma drug far exceeds the cost of the prescription.
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