In Arizona, as in many other states, your individual health insurance options are somewhat dependent on your health plans and the laws that govern them. Some ways that these laws protect you are as follows:

• Your protections when buying individual health indurance policy.
     If you do not have access to employer-sponsored group insurance, you may want to buy an individual health plan from a private health insurance company. However, in Arizona – as in most other states – you have limited guaranteed access to individual health insurance. Whether you can buy an individual health plan may depend on your health status, the kind of coverage you want to buy, and other circumstances. Also, there are some alternatives to individual health insurance coverage such as continuation coverage or conversion policies.
• In general, companies that sell individual health insurance in Arizona are free to turn you down because of your health status and other factors.
     When applying for individual coverage, you may be asked questions about health conditions you have now or had in the past. Depending on your health status, insurers might refuse to sell you coverage or offer to sell you a policy that has special limitations on what it covers.
• If you are federally eligible, all insurance companies that sell individual health insurance must offer you a choice of at least two plans.
     Insurers must offer you at least two state-approved policies, whose benefits must be similar to those sold to everyone else buying individual health plans. Companies that do not designate two policies must offer you a choice of all of their individual insurance products. If all of your family members are federally eligible, you must be offered family coverage.
• In Arizona, newborns, adopted children and children placed for adoption are automatically covered under the parents' health plan for the first 31 days, if the plan covers dependents.
     The insurer may require that the parent enroll the dependent within the 31 days in order to continue coverage beyond the 31 days.
• In Arizona, mentally retarded and physically disabled dependents are permitted to remain insured under their parents’ individual health insurance policy after they reach the age at which dependent coverage is usually terminated, if certain conditions are met.
     The adult dependent must be incapable of self-support and must rely on the policyholder for support. In addition, proof of dependency and disability must be provided to the insurer within 31 days of the dependent reaching the limiting age. To be federally eligible, you must meet certain criteria.
     If you are federally eligible you are guaranteed the right to buy an individual health plan with no pre-existing condition exclusion periods. To be federally eligible, you must meet all of the following:
  
  
• You must have had 18 months of continuous creditable coverage, at least the last day of which was under a group health plan.
• You also must have used up any COBRA continuation coverage for which you were eligible.
• You must not be eligible for Medicare, Medicaid or a group health plan.
• You must not have health insurance.
• You must apply for health insurance for which you are federally eligible within 63 days of losing your prior coverage.


Federal eligibility ends when you enroll in an individual plan, because the last day of your continuous health coverage must have been in a group plan. You can become federally eligible again by maintaining continuous coverage and rejoining a group health plan.


• What will my individual health plan cover?
     It depends on what you buy. Arizona does not require health insurers in the individual market to sell standardized policies. Health plans can design different policies and you will have to read and compare them carefully. Sometimes, individual health plans provide less comprehensive coverage than group health plans, especially for certain services such as maternity care, mental health care, or prescription drugs. However, Arizona does require all health plans to cover certain benefits – such as mammograms and diabetes treatment. Check with the Arizona Department of Insurance for more information about mandated benefits.
  
  

     If you are looking for some more information regarding policy rates and your rights under your state or federal health care laws, then you can continue your research by visiting the following convenient link.
  
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