by Elesha Shahinllari, LFA Senior Director of Government Relations and Public Policy
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced that they will be taking new steps to reduce premiums and to make it easier for Americans to enroll in the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) beginning on July 1st. PCIP are available for people living with chronic Pre-Existing diseases who have been unable to obtain insurance.
Under the new changes, premiums for the Federally-administered PCIP will drop by 40 percent in 17 states plus the District of Columbia. In other states, premium reductions range from 2.1 percent in Mississippi to 38.3 percent in Minnesota. These premium decreases help to bring PCIP premiums closer to the rates in each State’s individual insurance market; in the six states where PCIP premiums were already well-aligned with state premiums, premiums will remain the same.
Eligibility requirements for enrollment in PCIP will also be eased in 23 states and the District of Columbia to ensure that more Americans with pre-existing conditions have access to affordable health insurance. To be eligible for the plans, applicants have to be uninsured for at least six months and have a pre-existing condition. In the states where the plans are federally administered, applicants will no longer have to wait on an insurance company to send them a denial letter. Instead, they can provide a letter from a doctor, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner dated within the past 12 months stating that they have or, at any time in the past, had a medical condition, disability, or illness.
Congress created the temporary PCIP program as part of the Affordable Care Act to help uninsured Americans with a variety of medical conditions get affordable coverage rather than be locked out of the system by insurance companies. The plans are intended to serve as a bridge to help people with medical conditions until insurance market reforms required by the law are implemented in 2014. At that time, insurers will no longer be able to deny coverage or charge higher rates for people with pre-existing conditions. To learn more about how to enroll in PCIP, please visit www.pcip.gov.
Showing posts with label Health Care Reform. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health Care Reform. Show all posts
June 03, 2011
January 17, 2011
Guest Blog: Healthcare Reform Repeal Vote
By Elesha Gayman Shahinllari, LFA's Senior Director of Government Relations and Public Policy
Last year, Congress passed and the President signed into law the largest healthcare bill since Medicare was passed into law in 1965. This bill did a number of things but most importantly for people with lupus, it addressed three key needs.
First, the bill eliminated pre-existing condition clauses from insurance policies. In other words, insurance companies can no longer exclude coverage to individuals with chronic or “pre-existing” conditions. Insurance companies will also be banned from charging higher premiums based on gender.
The new healthcare law puts in place a way to insure adult children up to age 26 by allowing them to remain on their parents plans. Given the increasingly young age at which lupus patients are diagnosed, this will be helpful to many who will need time to be able to secure their own individual policy as the new insurance exchanges are brought online.
Finally, with the creation of new insurance pools that will become available in 2012, lupus patients will have more choices in not only securing insurance policies but more choices in what their level of coverage looks like.
Congress has scheduled a vote for this week to repeal the healthcare law. While this law is in no way a silver bullet to the healthcare problems many people with lupus or other chronic conditions face on a daily basis, it does go a long way in making care accessible to everyone. We are urging people to contact their Representatives and remind them what significant policies are in place in this legislation for lupus patients, and ask them to preserve these areas of the law as it is brought again before the House.
You can find your elected official here. Remind them that there is more than 1.5 million Americans living with lupus and we need to make sure they are not denied health-care coverage.
Last year, Congress passed and the President signed into law the largest healthcare bill since Medicare was passed into law in 1965. This bill did a number of things but most importantly for people with lupus, it addressed three key needs.
First, the bill eliminated pre-existing condition clauses from insurance policies. In other words, insurance companies can no longer exclude coverage to individuals with chronic or “pre-existing” conditions. Insurance companies will also be banned from charging higher premiums based on gender.
The new healthcare law puts in place a way to insure adult children up to age 26 by allowing them to remain on their parents plans. Given the increasingly young age at which lupus patients are diagnosed, this will be helpful to many who will need time to be able to secure their own individual policy as the new insurance exchanges are brought online.
Finally, with the creation of new insurance pools that will become available in 2012, lupus patients will have more choices in not only securing insurance policies but more choices in what their level of coverage looks like.
Congress has scheduled a vote for this week to repeal the healthcare law. While this law is in no way a silver bullet to the healthcare problems many people with lupus or other chronic conditions face on a daily basis, it does go a long way in making care accessible to everyone. We are urging people to contact their Representatives and remind them what significant policies are in place in this legislation for lupus patients, and ask them to preserve these areas of the law as it is brought again before the House.
You can find your elected official here. Remind them that there is more than 1.5 million Americans living with lupus and we need to make sure they are not denied health-care coverage.
September 20, 2010
Upcoming Healthcare Reform Updates
There are several upcoming changes that are going to be implemented as part of the Affordable Health Care Act beginning September 23, 2010. These include:
- Extending dependent coverage: Young adults who were usually removed from their parents’ insurance are now permitted to receive coverage under their parents’ insurance until the age of 26, even if the young adult no longer lives with his or her parents, is no longer a student, or is not a dependent on a parent’s tax return.
- Eliminating lifetime limits and restricting use of annual limits: All health insurance companies will be prohibited from imposing lifetime limits on essential benefits, such as hospital stays, and restricting annual limits.
- Eliminating pre-existing conditions exclusions for children: Job-based and new individual health insurance plans won’t be allowed to deny or exclude coverage to any child under age 19 based on a pre-existing condition, including a disability. Starting in 2014, these same plans won’t be able to exclude anyone (children and adults) from coverage or charge a higher premium for a pre-existing condition including a disability.
July 07, 2010
People with Lupus Denied Health Insurance Due to Pre-Existing Condition May Be Able to Obtain Coverage Through Health Care Reform Law Plan
President Obama signed the Health Care Reform package in to law in March 2010, which will extend insurance coverage to as many as 32 million Americans who currently do not have health insurance, as well as provide much-needed protections for people with lupus and other chronic conditions.
Americans who have been denied health insurance coverage because of a pre-existing condition can now apply for the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP). This temporary program provides insurance to people who have been unable to obtain coverage because of a preexisting condition. The PCIP coverage could start as early as August and will serve as a bridge for people until 2014 when the reform law bans health insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.
In order to enroll in the PCIP a person must have been without medical insurance for 6 continuous months and have been denied coverage due to their pre-existing condition; documentation of denial is required.
For more information on the PCIP and to learn about what health care coverage is available in your state, visit the new Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) website, www.healthcare.gov.
Americans who have been denied health insurance coverage because of a pre-existing condition can now apply for the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP). This temporary program provides insurance to people who have been unable to obtain coverage because of a preexisting condition. The PCIP coverage could start as early as August and will serve as a bridge for people until 2014 when the reform law bans health insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.
In order to enroll in the PCIP a person must have been without medical insurance for 6 continuous months and have been denied coverage due to their pre-existing condition; documentation of denial is required.
For more information on the PCIP and to learn about what health care coverage is available in your state, visit the new Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) website, www.healthcare.gov.
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