No and yes. Under the requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) anyone applying for major medical health insurance coverage after January 1, 2014 cannot be denied coverage for a pre-existing health condition. Insurance coverage is guaranteed to be issued and must cover pre-existing conditions immediately.
However, this does require that you enroll for individual health insurance coverage during the mandated open enrollment period which for 2014 ended on March 31st. If you failed to enroll during the open enrollment period then you cannot apply for major medical insurance coverage until the next open enrollment period which begins on November 15th for an effective date of coverage of January 1, 2015 at the earliest. The only exceptions to this part of the law are for what are referred to as "Change of Life Status Events" such as marriage, divorce, losing other health insurance coverage, or having or adopting a child (as the most common examples).
For the remainder of 2014 the only options available to persons who failed to enroll during the open enrollment period would be Short Term Medical insurance or perhaps a limited benefit/indemnity policy. However, these policies do still have some underwriting question associated with them that could result in your being declined for coverage. Also, these types of health plans do not cover pre-existing health conditions and do not meet the criteria under the Affordable Care Act for being major medical coverage. Therefore, you would be subject to the individual mandate tax penalty even if you do take out one of these types of policies.
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However, this does require that you enroll for individual health insurance coverage during the mandated open enrollment period which for 2014 ended on March 31st. If you failed to enroll during the open enrollment period then you cannot apply for major medical insurance coverage until the next open enrollment period which begins on November 15th for an effective date of coverage of January 1, 2015 at the earliest. The only exceptions to this part of the law are for what are referred to as "Change of Life Status Events" such as marriage, divorce, losing other health insurance coverage, or having or adopting a child (as the most common examples).
For the remainder of 2014 the only options available to persons who failed to enroll during the open enrollment period would be Short Term Medical insurance or perhaps a limited benefit/indemnity policy. However, these policies do still have some underwriting question associated with them that could result in your being declined for coverage. Also, these types of health plans do not cover pre-existing health conditions and do not meet the criteria under the Affordable Care Act for being major medical coverage. Therefore, you would be subject to the individual mandate tax penalty even if you do take out one of these types of policies.