A Helpful Summary of Massachusetts Medical Insurance Terms
The Georgetown University Health Policy Institute has written and published a series of health insurance summary guides that summarize the health insurance regulatory requirements in each state throughout the United States. In preparing the summary guides, an analysis is performed of a state's specific regulations pertaining to health insurance, as well as the applicable Federal regulations that apply throughout the USA. In addition, state-sponsored plans offered by a state's government as their local Medicare program are reviewed and summarized in the guides.
Regulations associated with health insurance are generally very complex, and most current state regulations are based on the Federal regulations known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). In the Georgetown health insurance state guides, the HIPAA regulations applicable to group health insurance, treatment of pre-existing conditions, COBRA continuation coverage and insurance portability are all addressed. By following the HIPAA guidelines carefully, a consumer may keep full-coverage health insurance indefinitely after exiting from an eligible group plan. However, the timeline requirements are strictly enforced and, as a consumer moves farther away in time from the original health plan, the health coverage and premium rates will generally become less beneficial.
Since understanding both HIPAA regulations and state-run Medicare programs will be vitally important to finding quality long-term health insurance, the Georgetown University summaries should be required guidance early in the task of finding new health insurance. These guides are updated periodically by the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University and offer a current and comprehensive look at health care and insurance in each state. Click below to access the full Consumer's Guide to Getting and Keeping Health Insurance for your state.