People who have pre-existing conditions were once deemed uninsurable. Pre-existing conditions is one of the reasons 30 million Americans live their lives without health insurance. In the past, a family could be faced with a huge sum of debt and financial problems after an unexpected medical emergency. Afterwards, if these people suffered from a recurring condition, they wouldn’t be able to get uninsured. The fact is insurance companies want to pay for future events; they don’t want to pay for something that has already occurred.
Many people in the United States, including people who had suffered a heart attack, stroke, cancer, and other health problems are considered people with pre-existing conditions. Opponents of the American health insurance system believe that the system is unreliable and needs to be changed. Why does the system make it so difficult for people who need the insurance the most to get it? With President Obama’s new health care plan, there will be some change.
Pre-existing conditions excluding women
Cancer- Studies have found that one out of eight women in the US is likely to get breast cancer during their lifetime. Many women also suffer from skin cancer and lung cancer.
Diabetes and heart disease are 2 other conditions which cause women to be excluded from health insurance coverage.
Women were not only charged higher premiums than men but they have more difficulty finding a health insurance plan that will cover these needs. Some insurance companies even list domestic violence as a pre-existing condition.
When will this bill take effect?
The health care reform bill won’t take effect for years, but the first to gain from this bill will be children with pre-existing conditions. Soon, companies will be forces to rescind their exclusions on children, however adults with pre-existing conditions won’t benefit from the new bill until 2014.
Currently, about 35 states have high-risk pools which help uninsured individuals with pre-existing conditions. As one can see, some states are excluded and do not offer this benefit. In the short term, people with pre-existing conditions that haven’t been insured for 6 months or more will become eligible to get subsidies which will help them pay for their premiums; the federal government will try to make their risk-pool more affordable than state run pools.
One of the problems though is that some individuals with pre-existing conditions will still have premiums up to 125% of the cost of a healthy person. The maximum out-of-pocket cost sharing will be $5,950 per individuals and about $12,000 per family. Federal insurance pools will stay in effect until 2013 and dissolve in 2014 when insurance companies will have to offer health insurance to everyone, even people with pre-existing conditions.
Source by Wojciech Albert Ciszewski
