Effective Dates Rating and Underwriting

Coverage effective dates are either the 1st or 15th of the month. An applicant may request a specific effective date (up to 90 days from the application date) at the time of application. There is no guarantee that a requested effective date will be granted as it is subject to underwriter review and approval. Here are some other rules to keep in mind:

• The applicant must select an effective date at least 10 days from the date they are making the election. If submitting an application on the 10th day of a month, an effective date request of the 15th of that same month will not be permitted. In that circumstance, the earliest effective date available would be the 1st of the following month.
• A request to backdate the start date of coverage will not be allowed. For example, someone applying for coverage on June 10 may not request that coverage be effective June 1. In addition, once coverage has been approved with a specific effective date, we will not accept a request to backdate the effective date of coverage.
• Regardless of the “requested effective date,” no coverage will take effect prior to underwriting approval. If underwriting is not completed by the requested effective date, the underwriter will set the effective date. Your customers should keep their current coverage in effect until they have been notified of approval by Independence Blue Cross. Otherwise, they may be without coverage.

An approved applicant may request that the effective date be changed to a future date. The request must be submitted in writing to the IBC Underwriting Department and include an explanation for the requested change. The request must be reasonable to the underwriter and the new effective date must not be more than 90 days from the original application date. Changing established effective dates should be discouraged, as Underwriting would have the right to review any interim medical history before making a decision.