THE COVERAGE THAT TRAVELS

By John Greenwald

So you want to change jobs but fear you won't qualify for new health insurance because you have a chronic ailment? Not to worry. Under the health-insurance reform bill Congress passed last week, medical insurance could become as portable as a briefcase. The election-year measure, which the President says he will sign, guarantees that workers who have health insurance can obtain immediate coverage after a change of jobs--even if they suffer from heart disease or other long-term conditions. Insurance companies will be required to provide coverage to new employees within 12 months. The bill also requires insurers to renew the policies of customers who contract long-term illnesses, instead of kicking them off the rolls.

Workers who lose their jobs involuntarily or become self-employed can remain covered as well. Under current law, insurers that provide group health-care plans do not have to offer individual policies. But the measure orders insurers to permit customers to switch from group to individual plans.

The bill also creates a four-year trial program that will permit some 750,000 policyholders to open tax-deductible medical savings accounts to pay for such routine expenses as visits to the doctor. In return for the tax deduction, account holders must purchase insurance against serious illness. Participants will be drawn from the ranks of the self-employed and from employees of small companies and individuals who are uninsured.

--By John Greenwald