Individual health insurance is no one’s thought of fun. But for a lot of folks who have lost a work, just graduated from college or maxed out their COBRA, it’s a requirement. One of those is very old Nancy Thompson of Camino, who misplaced her shipping office job at Sierra Pacific’s mill previous year. This month, the COBRA health reporting from her past employer ran out. Determined to stay covered, she went shopping for individual health insurance online and found it an unpleasant knowledge. Using one of the several comparison sites for health insurance, she started filling out her online request.
“It was overwhelming. There were more than a few questions and I started emotion painful,” Thompson said. “I didn’t even finish filling it out. That’s when the e-mails, phone calls and letters started arriving from brokers or agents keen to sign her up.
Frustrated, she opted to buy Aetna policy from a Citrus Heights insurance agent who came to her home. It can be a very time-consuming process,” said Sam Gibbs, senior vice president of Health insurance, a Mountain View-based online insurance site. “You have to fill out general medical questionnaires about doctor visits, prescriptions. Many individuals qualify for a policy right away, he said, but for those with complex medical histories, “it can take weeks to get an answer reverse.