When it comes to health care, time is of the essence. Ideally, you would like to be covered as soon as you receive an individual health insurance quote. While the process doesn’t happen that quickly, many PPO plans become effective as soon as you pay the first month’s premium and any enrollment fees.
What that means is that if you pay today, an individual PPO plan may become effective in as soon as 24 hours. The time frame varies among plans, as well as with your health status. For example, if you’re a smoker or have a high BMI, you may require further underwriting, which may take longer than one day.
Other individual health insurance coverage options have effective dates on the beginning and/or end of the month. If you sign up several days before the effective date deadline, your coverage will become effective on the 15th/16th or 30th/31st of the current month. However, your application will roll over to the next effective date if you missed the nearest deadline.
