Depending on your health condition, you may not be accepted into some plans like individual and family health plans.
Since health plans and rates are vastly different between the individual/family health insurance market, the Small Group market, the Cobra and HIPAA markets. You need to determine which is the most advantageous plans to apply to first. Usually this would depend on which plans have the lowest rates. If in the event you do not qualify for your top plan choice, you need to determine which alternatives to explore and in what order.
Frequently this is dependent on certain deadlines. For example you may be given 45 days after your termination from an employer to decide if you want to accept the Cobra that you are offered. Or you may have a 63 day window to decide if you want to apply for a guarantee-issue HIPAA plan after your Cobra expires.
In addition, the cost of each of these alternatives will have to figure into your decision. If you are unable to figure out the best course of action on your own, you may need the assistance of an experienced health insurance agent to help you select the most appropriate plans to apply to in different markets and in different orders or priority, based on your personal health and medical care needs, your pre-existing conditions, your guarantee-issue options, your risk tolerance and your budget.

© Philip W Lee, www.health-insurance.com, www.healthplantalk.com