It is understandable that Insurance companies see people with pre-existing conditions as a bit of a risky venture. It is like providing a house loan to an individual who already has two in foreclosure. We know how that turns out. Unfortunately the pre-existing illness is no fault of the individual. It is not due to neglect or irresponsibility. If have been fired or laid off or aren’t paid enough to have insurance coverage, and you are already ill, or have seen a doctor once for a condition, just once, then it is preexisting. If you had kidney stones and requested pain medications for it. When you go to the hospital for inflamed kidneys under your new insurance policy, then they may refuse to pay their part of the premium.
The Obama administration has made it top priority to address pre-existing conditions. The old Pre-existing condition clauses will have to be rescinded by health care providers. The new plan starts with children who are covered under family policies. Providers will no longer be able to deny children with preexisting conditions. This will start September 23, 2010 which was 6 months from the signed bill.
Adults with pre-existing conditions will be the next to be fully insured without prejudice. This will not happen overnight and has to be implemented at state-run exchanges. State-run exchanges are policies that can be compared and selected at competitive rates by individuals who are not insured through their employers. The changes should be in full affect by 2014. Yes, this is a long ways away for most Americans who need insurance now. The plan has some temporary back up plans for the long wait. This is a temporary high risk insurance pool. If you have been uninsured for at least 6 months prior to enrolling, you will be eligible for this pool and to help make the premium affordable, subsidies will be available to you. They note that the cost will be in accordance to your risk population. The max out of pocket premium for families will be $11,900 and individuals will be $5,950. This short-term plan should be available to all and will gradually fade out, ending on January 2014.
Whether you are for the democrats or republicans, we have President Obama to thank for pushing this part of the bill through with much conviction. His Grandmother had a pre-existing condition; she needed hip replacement surgery and could not afford it without insurance. There are millions of Americans who can’t afford to go to the dentist to have a tooth bonded or a root canal , instead they opt to have them all pulled which seems to be inexpensive, as there are no more teeth to worry about. Any kind of restructured plan is long overdue. This may not be the ideal plan for everyone but when you or a loved one has a major illness it makes all the difference for now at least.
