"Don�t Hang Up!"

The nice lady called about 4:30 on a Tuesday afternoon (and no, the sky was NOT �dark and gloomy.� Sheesh). She was calling, she said, to find out about health insurance for herself and her family.
She�s self-employed, and her husband wants to quit his job to come work with (for?) her, but they�re loathe to give up his benefits.
It�s then that she literally begged me �please, don�t hang up.�
As one would expect, I was a bit puzzled by this. Why would I hang up on her? Well, "because everyone else has� once she disclosed that she�s a Type I diabetic. I simply responded �well, you just weren�t talking to the right agent.�
One of the first things one learns in this business � and then most of us promptly forget � is to ask a lot of questions. Which I proceeded to do. It turns out that she�s actually on several meds, including self-administered insulin injections, and she has some other problems, as well. She and her husband desperately wanted to be in a position for him to quit his job, but were faced with job-lock due to her condition.
Sometimes, things seem hopeless, because you�re too close to the problem, and because you just don�t know about alternatives. It�s an agent�s job to inform prospects and clients about these options.
Turns out, there are several guaranteed issue plans that may be of value to her, and she�s eligible for COBRA, which offers an avenue to longer term coverage, as well. In fact, the COBRA option may be her best bet:
By electing COBRA continuation, and keeping it for the full 18 months (for which she is eligible at this point), she fulfills the critical test for a HIPAA guaranteed issue plan. Assuming she�s still uninsurable at the end of COBRA (which, let�s face it, she will be), she can then transition to another plan, one which will continue to cover all her pre-existing health problems. None of this is cheap, of course, but I submit that it�s still less expensive than going �bare.�
In this case, procrastination is �a good thing.�
Oh, and since her husband is quite healthy, it�s no problem setting him up with his own major medical plan. Problem(s) solved.
ADDENDUM: This is an example of why it�s so important to work with a local, independent agent, as opposed to one of those online services. The anonymous person at the other end of the 800# or email has products and knowledge geared toward the �normal� case. Throw any curveballs (such as diabetes, or thyroid conditions, etc) at such a service, and the most likely response is �Sorry, can�t help you.� Granted, they are unlikely to hang up on you, as apparently happened to this woman. But they�re not going to be much help, either. A knowledgeable pro will know about guaranteed issue plans, HIPAA and COBRA issues, and even non-insurance alternatives.
�Nuff said.

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