Option NOT to cure a lapse in health insurance coverage?

if at the end, there will be no lapse in coverage, then you got what you paid for so to speak and i don't see where you would be due a refund. Now, if the insurance company will not cover a claim you make for those 19 days, i would say you would have recourse against your employer for those charges.

That is understood, assuming that I pay premium to avoid a lapse in coverage and not to actually receive coverage. I hope, however, to terminate (and be refunded) then reinstate with a new coverage inception date (either with this or a cheaper company), because in reality I paid for but did not have health insurance coverage for 19 days. That is, it seems to me that because there are grace periods for lapses in coverage and we are within them (and because no medical services were received during the lapsed time so I have no need to be reimbursed for anything), that I actually receive no benefit for having the coverage backdated. Since I receive no benefit, I am not sure I want to do it. Not for $500. Ugh, I know this is an absolutely unanswerable question. But I am bashing my head against a wall hoping to figure it out.

You're essentially asking for a refund based on non-usage. Insurance doesn't work that way. I can't cancel my car insurance, for instance, and demand a refund on my premiums that I paid for the past two months because I didn't get in an accident. You don't get a refund in premiums if you don't make any claims. The mistake was remedied and your policy was reinstated. You have no damages, so there is nothing you can recoup. Besides, if your plan now is a HIPAA credible plan, you'd have a problem dropping coverage and then applying for new coverage. Chances are, your new plan would not cover any pre-existing conditions for up to a year just because you decided to cancel your policy. The best advice in insurance is: Don't cancel until you have replacement coverage in place.

Just as a data point, I am not asking for a refund because I didn't USE it, but because the policy was not IN FORCE - very, very different from your example of wanting a refund on car insurance because I didn't get into an accident. It was terminated on December 31, and has not yet been reinstated. I am endeavoring to act before it is reinstated. As of this moment, neither of us has health insurance. However, FergieBelle, on consideration you are right that I could not drop my husband's coverage and reapply immediately, as our open enrollment period is not until November, so it does occur to me that I could not re-add him to my plan. Thanks for the reminder of that!

Jon1270, thanks for your input. I'm not totally sure I agree with it, but thank you. My view is that if I pay for a subscription to a magazine, and it never arrives - I get a refund. If I buy a computer through the mail and it never comes, I get a refund. If I pay for health insurance and then don't receive it, I should get a refund. Yes, I am definitely hoping to exploit the problem, and use it to my advantage. Wouldn't you, if you paid $900 in consideration for a contract under which the other party didn't provide the promised service? It's not so much a blame issue as a "Hey, United Healthcare, I paid you $900 this month and you haven't provided coverage. Before you backdate coverage and pretend you provided it, let me just cancel and get my money back" I agree it would be too late to do this after coverage was reinstated, but we'll see. Frankly the replacement plan is also through United Healthcare, so I am wondering if my great employee benefits manager can make something work. Ohh, she just emailed me back!

I would guess, although not sure, that once reinstated your policy will have been in force for the period in question. Check to make sure that is true. Meaning, once reinstated, if you have a claim for that period it will be covered. If I'm right, you actually were/are covered for that period once the reinstatement is official. So, you seem to have no issue or damages financial or otherwise.

There is no way your employer will reimburse you for the days in which you were "not covered" because there were no such days. This sort of billing & payment snafu happens occasionally; if you had spoken with your employer when you received the termination notice they would probably have explained that the January payment would be made within the insurance company's reinstatement grace period and that your coverage would not have any gaps. And on preview: As of this moment, neither of us has health insurance. That is true on paper... sort of. Your employer is paying all of the January premium because the insurance company intends to cover all of January's claims. Nobody (except for you) is under the impression that you cannot go to the doctor and be covered. If you were hit by a bus today you would be covered even though the paperwork is still being processed. That's how grace periods work; it may suck for you financially, but it's the only option.

As a way of restating my question here, hypothetically, if I simply cancelled the coverage BEFORE it was reinstated, such that I paid the monthly premium in full but coverage was never provided (i.e. not through backdating, not at all.), would I be entitled to a refund? My gut tells me yes, but that once coverage is provided on paper through backdating, I would not be.

That's how grace periods work; it may suck for you financially, but it's the only option. Is that a late-premium grace period, or the lapse in coverage grace period? It looks like for a certain number of days after termination of a policy (120 in CT and 63 in PA, our state of residence which would govern an individual plan), we are immune from pre-existing coverage clauses, treated as if there was continuous coverage. (Sorry so many questions, even though I have a life insurance license, I'm not well versed on health insurance, and don't have a lot of sources of advice. Answers so far have been incredibly helpful.)