Affordable Care Act: No medical check ups required

Do we have to get a check up before I can buy health insurance for my family?

Healthy But Not Sure

Dear Healthy But Not Sure,

Not only is a health check up optional, it is illegal for an insurer to ask you any health questions for your application.  As long as you are applying for coverage during an open enrollment, you have free access to any plan that is offered on the state or federal exchange.  You also have access to non-exchange plans, which might make sense for your family if your income is more than 400 percent of federal poverty.  (That is about $92,000 for a family of four)

There may be other circumstances where a medical check up is required.  For example, if you are purchasing life insurance or you are buying a supplemental health plan.  For “regular” health insurance, there should be no health check up required.

Linda Riddell

About Linda Riddell

A published author and health policy analyst with 25 years’ experience, Linda Riddell's goal is to alleviate the widespread ailment of not knowing what your health plan can do for you.