As important as they are, the federal and state health insurance reforms are limited.  Therefore, you also should understand how the laws do not protect you.

• If you change jobs, you usually cannot take your old health benefits with you. Except when you exercise your federal COBRA rights, you are not entitled to take your actual group health plan with you when you leave a job. Your new health plan may not cover all of the benefits or the same doctors that your old plan did.
• If you change jobs, your new employer may not offer you health coverage. Employers are required only to make sure that their decision is based on factors unrelated to your health status.
• If you get a new job with health benefits, your coverage may not start right away. Employers can require waiting periods before your health benefits begin. HMOs can required affiliation periods.
• If you have a break in coverage of 63 days or more, you may have to satisfy a new pre-existing condition exclusion period when you join a new group plan.
• Even if your coverage is continuous, there may be a pre-existing condition exclusion period for some benefits if you join a group health plan that covers benefits your old plan did not. For example, say you move from a group plan that does not cover prescription drugs to one that does. You may have to wait up to one year before your new health plan will pay for drugs prescribed to treat a pre-existing condition.
• If you work for a non-federal public employer in Tennessee, not all of the group health plan protections may apply to you.
• If you are not HIPAA eligible, your access to individual health insurance depends on your health status. Private insurers are not prohibited from turning you down, charging you more, or limiting coverage due to your health status.
• If you are HIPAA eligible, the law does not limit what you can be charged for individual health insurance. You can be charged substantially higher premiums because of your health status, age, gender, and other characteristics.
• If you move away from Tennessee, you may not be able to buy individual health insurance in another state unless you are HIPAA eligible.
• If you have a break in coverage for 63 days or more you may have to satisfy a new pre-existing condition exclusion period when you join AccessTN.
• If you are a small employer buying group health insurance, you will be charged more if somebody in your group is sick. There are limits on how much more you can be charged if you have 3 to 25 employees, although surcharges can still be substantial. If you have fewer than 3 or more than 25 employees, there are no limits.