What Does Health Insurance Underwriting Mean? 
It used to mean that for an individual applying for individual health insurance or for an employer group applying for group health insurance that the individual or the employees would have to answer medical questions and perhaps provide rather detailed information on any pre-existing health conditions that they or their dependents to be covered might have . This has essentially become a non-issue in the fully insured individual or group health insurance markets after January 1 , 2o14 as the Affordable Care Act -LRB- ObamaCare -RRB- no longer allows for the underwriting of such health insurance policies . Underwriting may still be encountered in the group health insurance market if an employer has or is implementing a self-funded health insurance plan . As these plans are subject to the Federal ERISA guidelines asking medical questions and adjusting a group 's rates for the medical risk -LRB- s -RRB- in the group is still allowed . 