My husband's last day of his old job was April 5,2006. The insurance with his new job became effective today (June 1). Since we had until about June 10th to sign up for COBRA, we waited to sign up to see if we would need it. We didn't need any medical treatments or dr. visits between April 5 and today. COBRA was going to be about $1000/month. Will we run into any kind of problems with pre-existing conditions not being covered with the new insurance since we had the gap of 56 days without coverage? Is this what the HIPAA regulations are supposed to help us with?

My husband's last day of his old job was April 5,2006. The insurance with his new job became effective today (June 1). Since we had until about June 10th to sign up for COBRA, we waited to sign up to see if we would need it. We didn't need any medical treatments or dr. visits between April 5 and today. COBRA was going to be about $1000/month. Will we run into any kind of problems with pre-existing conditions not being covered with the new insurance since we had the gap of 56 days without coverage? Is this what the HIPAA regulations are supposed to help us with?


The HIPAA regulations can depend on your state and new coverage, but usually, as long as there is not more than 60 days without coverage, there is no problem.

I've seen insurance companied be cool about that sort of thing if you need to backdate your coverage as long as you are willing to pay for the months in the gap of your covereage. Not a guarentee, but it happens.