What's Underwriting and Why Does it Take so Long?

All health insurance policies are underwritten which means that the company needs to assess the risk they're taking on before the accept a new client.  In the case of a pregnant woman for example it certainly wouldn't make sense for an insurance company to insure this person because the they 'know' that they'll have to shell out at least $5,000-$10,000 for the birth and if the baby is premature it could run 6-7 figures in expenses.  Naturally charging $200 per month isn't worth taking the risk.

That's an extreme example, but that's the way it works for every condition.  The insurance company can't take someone that they know they'll be shelling out more than what they take in.  It would be hard to stay in business with a model like that...although some Internet companies tried it in the late 90's and of course they're not in business anymore.

So, it may be an inconvenience for the time it takes because not all doctors are really speedy about getting someone's medical records to the insurance company.  However, without the medical records they can't assess the risk properly.