The major hold up when it comes to getting an individual health insurance insurance policy underwritten often due to physicians offices dragging their feet.  Frequetnly they charge for these records and this transaction has to be negotiated between the physicians office and the health insurance company.  Given that most people don't answer their phone these days but rather accept messages from other people this can take awhile.  To expedite this process, it is a good idea to call your doctor's office ahead of time to let them know what's going on.