How can a person switch health plans with a pre-existing condition?

Question:

Please help! My uncle, who is in his fifties and has kidney problems (stones) and other issues, has doctors who really suck because he is forced to stay with his sub par health plan. I won't name it, but the doctors he is required to see are indifferent and haven't helped him and he can't afford to see anyone else.

He also is discouraged and is too upset to haggle with insurance people, so he just allows himself to suffer.

So, I want to help!

What can he do to eventually switch plans (legally) when he has been with one for so long and is currently sick? Every insurance carrier will not take a new customer if that person is sick (pre-existing condition clause) so therefore a sick person is effectiively screwed. He has nothing terminal and does not have diabetes.

Please! If there are any insiders who wish to earn some good karma and relieve the pain of someone who has given up, now would be a great time!

Answer:
(Assuming the US)

If he has insurance through an employer, he can change plans during "open season." Employer-sponsored plans typically require that the insurer not turn down employees due to pre-existing conditions.

If he's purchased insurance on his own or has it provided in such a way that the "no reject" provisions don't apply, then he might have a problem. There's little that can done, unless he's "poor" and therefore falls into a special pool (the government covers part of the risk).

How can a person switch health plans with a pre-existing condition?

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