Buying into group health insurance?

[Ayesha]

Does anyone here know if there are large groups that self-employed/non-employed people can buy into for health insurance? I am in a situation where I need to find new health insurance, but I can't buy an individual plan because I have a pre-existing condition and would be rejected. My partner's COBRA is running out soon as well. Our options at this point are either to set up a small group plan for our home business (requires lots of paperwork and I'm not sure it would work) or get a HIPPA plan which can never be changed and isn't ideal for a number of other reasons. We could also both try to get on Social Security Disability which gives you Medicare, but especially in her case it would probably take years to get approved. I've tried Googling various keywords but can't seem to find anything.

Thanks for any info!

P.S. We are in California, if that matters.

[elehhhhna]

1. cobra can be extended IF you file for ssdi, I think. LOOK INTO IT...

if that's not an option there's usually a state pool for hard-to-insure.

[Ayesha]

2. Forgot to mention

I am not low-income and need something better than Medi-Cal. A high-deductible PPO is what I am really looking for.

[Ravenseye]

3. Find a small business assocation to buy through.

Join the small business group that offers insurance groups, then you can go through them and their insurance department. We joined a group here in PA for a little over 100 bucks a year and can make use of people specificly that help the businesses with their insurance stuff. We got a 2 person group high deducatble PPO that way.

Look up small business or small manufacturing groups near you and look to see if they offer insurance to their members. YOu won't be able to buy into a larger group, but it'll save you a ton on the paperwork rather than going directly as a group to the Insurance company.

[Sgent]

4. There are a few unions

which offer gaurenteed issue insurance -- Screen Actor's Guild, etc.

That being said, no "small business" group that I'm familiar with offers gaurenteed issue. Your options as far as I know are:

1) Form a small group (not a problem if you have tax returns for last three months employment tax returns w/ 2 or more people who have worked an average of 30hr/wk).
2) Apply for disability, which will make the person who is disabled eligible for Medicare (not Medi-cal) 2 years after date of disability. The date of disability is the date when they were unable to work -- NOT when they apply.
3) Buy the HIPAA policy.

State gaurenteed issue plans (which are not low income plans) don't exist in states that offer HIPAA plans -- its one or the other.

[mile53]

5. NASE

Check out NASE. They have a fairly good plan for the self employed.

http://www.nase.org/