You hear a lot of talk these days about the health coverage crisis. What people are really talking about isn’t so much a problem with medical care in the United States – our system is one of the most effective, efficient and advanced health care systems in the world. What they’re really talking about is access to medical insurance, which is a whole different question altogether.

The biggest challenge, of course, is making sure that everyone has insurance without creating a monstrous government entity that will force people to do so. That’s a political mess right there, in case you haven’t been following the news, so I’ll just completely sidestep it for now.

One of the other challenges in this regard has to do with preexisting conditions. The fact is that many insurance plans don’t cover conditions that you already have when you start the insurance coverage. This can leave some people that have had a gap in employment in the lurch, as they struggle to get long-term chronic conditions taken care of without having to spend every dime of disposable income treating them.

The fact is that insurance companies don’t want to insure sick people. It’s just not good financial business. For this reason, all 50 states have an “insurer of last resort.” This is an insurance company that will offer you coverage even if everyone else turns you down.

In some states, these insurers have caps on what they’re allowed to charge, but this isn’t the case in every state. So, while the company is required to offer you insurance, based on your medical condition they can charge you significantly higher premiums than what you would pay if you were getting medical insurance coverage through your employer, for example. In some cases, an individual’s insurance plan could cost as much as $1,400 a month, and have a deductible of $5,000 or more, based on preexisting conditions.

The key is, if at all possible, to not let a gap occur in your medical insurance coverage. If you lose your job, pay for COBRA. Once you get another job, your new insurance plan will be required to cover your preexisting conditions under the HIPPA laws on the books. Even in these tough financial times, there is help from the federal government that will defray the cost of paying for COBRA while you’re looking for more work.

Photo via robinsoncaruso