Anxiety over health insurance shapes life choices

Anxious over being caught uninsured or paying sky-high premiums, some people are going to great lengths to get or keep job-based health coverage. The concerns are affecting a host of major life decisions, including the age of retirement and the state where people choose to live, insurance-industry watchers and financial advisers say. For those with existing medical conditions, conversations increasingly center on how to get or stay on a group policy or segue into the individual market in a way that prevents insurers from denying coverage or excluding the pre-existing conditions.