I am starting a company with two friends and we are looking into small group PPO policies with Blue Cross of CA -- I am worried that I won't be abel to get coverage. I just left my old job and will have COBRA for 18 months, but would rather migrate to a new policy. What are the laws for small group policies can they turn me down or force me into a pre-existing condition delay of some kind?

They won't be able to apply a pre-existing condition clause if you don't have a break in coverage of 63 days or more as they would have to recognize your prior COBRA coverage as creditable coverage. What the coverage rules are with respect to extending coverage or denying it could depend on the size of the group, i.e., is it written as a small group policy or several individual ones. As long as you run out your COBRA, even if you don't qualify for the small group plan, and you don't have a break in coverage of 63 days or more, any insurance company that offers individual policies would have to provide you with access to a policy. If it is not a standard policy, then you would qualify for a HIPAA policy.