What can slow down the
Individual health insurance
enrollment process?
The
California health carriers
have made significant progress
in speeding up the application
and enrollment process over the
past decade. Health
insurance used to be like other
types of insurance where you
essentially submitted your
paperwork and figured it would
take a month to process (because
it did!). These
days, depending on the carrier,
it can be a matter of days and
sometimes, an approval is
automatically generated by the
system.
Anthem Blue Cross has led the pack in
terms of expediting underwriting
but the other carriers will
follow suit or find themselves
to be less competitive in the
market. First, let's look
at the general timelines.
Medical records request for an
Individual health insurance
application is the major question
mark that affects how long the
process takes. If a person
is healthy and there are no
health issues on the application
that the carrier wants to look
into, this is the fastest
scenario. With Cross, we
will usually have a decision in
5-7 business days. Other
carriers may go two weeks or
more. If medical records
are requested, the carrier
typically contracts with a third
party company (WFI is the major
company) to go out to the
doctor's office and copy the
needed records. The
doctor's office usually requires
a pre-payment in advance (the
carrier pays) and schedules an
appointment to come in. A
good doctor's office will
typically turn around this
process in a week's time but it
can take weeks if not more than
a month for an office that is
too busy or not organized.
As the patient, you can put some
gentle pressure on the doctor's
office to move along and you
always have the right to get
your own medical records.
Kaiser is notoriously slow in
providing these records.
Once the records are in house
with the carrier, we usually
have a decision in the 5-7
business days that we mentioned
earlier.
What can slow down the
Individual health insurance
underwriting process?
These
are the
most
common
issues
that can
slow
down
health underwriting.
1.
Missing
information
on the
application.
Probably
the most
common
issue is
that the
information
on the
application
is not
complete.
This is
more of
an issue
with the
hard
copies
as the
online
application
forces
you to
complete
each
section
before
moving
on.
Plan
selection,
health
history
follow-up
sections,
signatures,
and
billing
information
are key
areas to
double-check.
The
health
history
section
makes up
roughly
half of
the
application
so this
is
especially
important
to
review.
Make
sure
that for
every
"yes"
answer,
you have
corresponding
information
in the
following
sections
where
details
are
listed.
Missing
information
can also
affect
your
policy
in the
future
so make
sure to
include
all
pertinent
information.
2.
Incorrectly
answering
question.
A common
mistake
is to
rush
through
the
application
and
inadvertently
answer
questions
incorrectly.
For
example,
we
commonly
see the
female
last
period
question
answered
incorrectly
by women
who are
in
menopause.
A "no"
answer
there
needs to
be
explained.
3.
HIPAA
authorization
not
included.
All
California
health
carriers
are
required
now to
attain
your
authorization
in order
to
request
medical
records
from a
third
party.
They
will not
proceed
without
this
authorization.
It is
typically
a
separate
sheet
that
requires
your
signature
and
authorization.
4.
Online
application
issues.
There
are
still
some
areas
in the
online
application
where
people
get hung
up.
With
time,
these
applications
will
improve
but
contact
us if
you find
yourself
getting
stuck.
Typically,
there is
a
checkbox
or
needed
information
with a
scrolling
window
which is
not
readily
apparent.
5.
Application
times
out.
This is
usually
the
result
of
medical
records
not
being
received
or only
partially
received.
It's
very
frustrating
because
in most
situations,
a new
application
has be
to
submitted
depending
on how
old the
signature
date is.
Really
try to
keep the
medical
records
request
moving
along
with
your
doctor.
With the
above
issues
successfully
avoided,
you can
expedite
the
processing
of your
California Individual
health
application.
Other
important
concepts
to help
you
understand
your
California health
insurance
quote
are:
Individual
health
insurance
underwriting
Access
to
California
downloadable
and
online
application
More
information
on
Individual
health
insurance
enrollment
Getting
your
Individual
health
insurance
quote
Question
to ask
before
choosing
your
Individual
health
plan
To
run your
instant
health
insurance:
California
Individual
Family
health
insurance
quote
INDIVIDUAL
ENROLLMENT