Your policy was cancelled for non-payment.  Insurance companies are different from other financial services because you are purchasing coverage for future unexpected expenses.  You are not paying a debt.  Therefore, when you miss a payment it is not like if you missed a car payment.  Usually your finance company would call to collect on the payment, and possibly call repeatedly to get you to pay your debt.  Since health insurance is not a debt, there is much less "excitement" when you miss a payment.  Sure, you'll receive a letter and a statement.  If you go past your grace period the health insurance company may not reinstate your policy when you send in your payment.  The grace period is the length of time you have to make your payment without your policy being cancelled.  If you extend past your grace period, the insurance company may or may not reinstate your policy (depending on their guidelines).  If the health insurance company returned your premium, your policy was not reinstated.  When a policy is reinstated you do have to pay all your missed payments.  If your policy was not reinstated, you must apply for a policy as if you are seeking new coverage.  You will be asked questions just like the first time you applied for coverage, and may be denied coverage depending on your medical history.  If you have medical conditions that may cause denial of coverage, it is very important to make your monthly payments for your health insurance policy.  You could lose coverage altogether.  In Texas, we have the Texas Health Risk Pool which grants coverage to anyone who is denied coverage by health insurance companies.  So, you should probably be able to get coverage through the risk pool if you are unable to attain it through private health insurance companies.  However, the risk pool tends to be much more expensive than individual health insurance policies.

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