"1) More cancer survivors can now get care - High-risk pools have been established in every state to provide coverage for the uninsured. The program launched on July 1st and is providing immediate access to coverage for people in every state who have been uninsured for six months or more and have cancer or another pre-existing condition.
2) No more “doughnut holes” - The Affordable Care Act is finally closing the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole”. Immediately after enactment, the law provided a $250 rebate to seniors who hit the coverage gap in Medicare’s prescription drug program. In addition, Medicare beneficiaries will receive discounts on brand-name drugs next year, and the coverage gap will be closed completely by 2020.
3) “The kids are all right” – Mantra from the old song by The Who can be applied here. Health plans will be prohibited from denying coverage to children up to age 19 with pre-existing conditions such as cancer. So if you have a child who is a survivor you will no long have to worry about their insurance if you change jobs.
4) The well won't run dry - Health plans will be banned from setting lifetime dollar limits on coverage, ensuring that people with cancer have access to needed care throughout their lifetimes. Annual dollar limits on coverage will be tightly restricted for most plans and will be eliminated altogether in 2014. Patients will no longer have to put off treatments waiting for the new plan year to start.
5) In sickness and in health – Just like marriage, your health plan now takes a vow to you when they take your business. As of this week, health insurers will be barred from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. In other words, you can’t lose your insurance for developing cancer.
6) Prevention, prevention prevention – Also new this week, coverage will be guaranteed and out-of-pocket costs will be eliminated in new insurance plans for proven preventive services, giving people access to lifesaving screenings for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer."
15 comments:
Asclepius wept.
Nothin' but sunshine, apparently.
"1) More cancer survivors can now get care - High-risk pools have been established in every state to provide coverage for the uninsured."
That's all from 2010.
From Healthcare.gov:
"PCIP - Enrollment Suspension
On February 16, 2013, the federally-run Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) suspended acceptance of new enrollment applications until further notice. The suspension also became effective in the state-based PCIPs on March 2."
The system is already broke before it even gets started. What a joke.
Sigh. Thanks, Rab.
The well won't run dry.
If you're gonna lie LIE BIG!
You'll get the blue pill.
Yea, this is gonna get expensive.
"Health plans will be prohibited from denying coverage to children up to age 19 with pre-existing conditions such as cancer. "
I thought everybody was gonna be covered with preexisting conditions. Then again, I thought Putin would shake with fear when confronted by the authoritay of the perfect pants crease. It's like a ninja sword on each leg.
This is a little long, but it is from Healthcare.gov and gives the best info I have yet found on buying new private insurance outside of the exchanges when you have a pre-existing condition:
"Be Aware When You Apply for Insurance Plans
In most states, insurance companies try to figure out your health status when you're applying for health insurance coverage to determine whether to offer you coverage, at what price, and what services will be left out or limited under the terms of the plan. This is called "medical underwriting." Plan summaries on this site include some information about how insurers are using this information.
You will see: the percent of applications for the policy that insurers have denied, and the percent of policies that were sold at a higher premium.
Denials are applications that are turned down. This could include those turned down completely or ones that were put on hold until later (for example, until after surgery). It would also apply if the insurance company offered someone a policy that was not the one requested.
Here's how medical underwriting could affect you when you apply for a health insurance policy:
•The insurer denies you coverage or limits your coverage
Unless you live in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont, or Maine, have rights based on your prior coverage, or are under the age of 19, be aware that there are several challenges for you when you are looking for insurance.
In most states, you could be turned down for coverage if you have a pre-existing health condition at the time you applied for health insurance, including a condition that you have been treated for in the past. Insurers don't have to sell policies to everybody. They may or may not choose to sell one to you based on your health condition, medical history, your job, or a variety of other factors.
Insurers can also wait to make a decision to offer you coverage until after you have received a specific service (for example, until after you undergo planned surgery).
In most states today, private insurance companies can also make rules that permanently limit coverage for a health condition, body part, or body system.
Finally, insurance companies can also offer you plans that have a higher deductible than what you applied for, exclude pre-existing conditions from coverage for some time, strictly limit prescription drug coverage, or set other limits that leave you with less coverage than you need."
To sum up, (1) if you have a pre-existing condition and no insurance a non-exchange insurer can turn you down or exclude that specific condition and (2) if you use the exchange you can eventually get coverage but are limited by the open enrollment timelines which delay coverage by up to 9 months.
I remain open to correction.
Back in '08, when everybody loved Choomie, there was a news story about a woman in OR who had just been told she had cancer and who wanted to know her cancer treatment options under that state's version of ChoomCare.
If you remember, what the state sent her was a pamphlet on assisted suicide.
'Nuff said?
Ed, if you cared you'd supply a link :)
Apparently Ted Cruz really does want healthcare reform, just not Obamacare. The problem for young Ted is that any meaningful reform would look a lot like Obamacare. Exclusion for pre-existing conditions and caps (another name for rationing) may make financial sense for insurers but these tricks are bad for citizens and for the economy. In reality much of Obamacare would remain intact even if by some act of black magic the Republicans won both the senate and the presidency overnight. Everyone agrees that the system needed substantial reform.
Cancer care is very expensive and with a few exceptions cancer affects everyone equally, since the mutation rate in somatic DNA is much the same for all of us. In this respect it is one of the most egalitarian of diseases, oblivious to financial or social standing. That some people should be excluded from adequate care for this disease is inherently wrong in a country with any pretensions to equality amongst its citizenry.
Ignore the screams and smell of burning flesh. Lighter than air vessels are the future of aviation. This Hindenberg incident is just anecdotal evidence. More people need to sign up for dirigible travel.
Now that's Photoshop worthy, William. Or I hope some political cartoonist runs with the idea.
Post a Comment