Arkansas Individual Health Insurance Regulations

When acquiring Arkansas individual health insurance, an applicant's existing and past health status strongly influences eligibility for coverage. In Arkansas, medical insurance companies are allowed to accept or decline coverage for an individual if the company believes that the health care costs for the individual would jeopardize their claims ratios. For members that are already covered, the health insurance providers in Arkansas are allowed to review back 60 months at any medical records in order to decide if any claim could be categorized as a pre-existing medical condition. With a pre-existing medical condition, health insurance providers in Arkansas can deny payment for a claim. health Insurance providers in Arkansas can accept you for medical insurance coverage but they can also place an elimination rider on the insurance policy which excuses them from covering claims on the pre-existing medical condition. Plus, insurance companies are also allowed to exclude any pre-existing medical condition for as much as 24 months, even if the insured person has had health insurance in the past.

Arkansas Small Group Health Insurance Regulations

Any employer with 2-50 employees is defined as a small group by Arkansas law. Health insurance providers in Arkansas offer a small group plan are obligated to accept any eligible group for coverage, no matter what the health status is of the participants in that group. On new Arkansas group health insurance applications, health questions are allowed and the answers to these questions may influence the rate that the insurance company charges the employer. The highest possible rate adjustment factor is 25% over the regular rate and it is published and approved by the Arkansas Department of Insurance. As defined by federal HIPAA laws, if there are any new members who have never had health insurance coverage in the past, then the insurance company can stop covering benefits for a pre-existing medical condition for up to 12 months. To be eligible for small group coverage, your company must have at least 2 business employees that work at least 20 hours per week.

Arkansas COBRA and Continuation Coverage

Any group with at least 20 employees must abide by federal COBRA regulations. COBRA regulations state that any employee that leaves the business is able to remain on the Arkansas group health insurance plan for a period of 18 months, as long as that group health insurance plan still exists. The person that receives COBRA will be held accountable for paying the health insurance premium, which cannot go beyond 2% of the amount that the employer was paying for coverage. In addition, an employer in Arkansas who has no more than 20 employees is eligible for a mini-COBRA. Under this rule, extension of coverage under the Arkansas group health insurance plan has to be available to individuals for up to 120 days, as long as that individual was under the group health insurance plan for a time span of at least 3 months. When the mini-COBRA coverage ends after 4 months, the individual has an option to receive a conversion policy. Also, Arkansas has a state-sponsored program available for individuals that have ended their COBRA coverage and are no longer eligible for individual health insurance coverage.