As far as I know it doesn’t apply to private insurance. If you go from business A to B you should be fine but if you lose your job and you had a problem, however small, in the past (5 years in some states) you will probably not get insurance.
HIPAA applies if you lose your job and you were covered by your employers health plan. You have to elect COBRA coverage and exhaust it, then you have to make timely application for the individual policy. It’s a little advertised secret. Most employers, insurance companies, and sales people won’t tell you about it. In the past, there’ve been reports of some insurance folks playing games with the requirements to finesse people out of using it.