Do you have pre-existing medical conditions that caused you to be denied for insurance coverage? Have you been uninsured for at least six months? If so then we have some potentially good news for you today.

On Thursday, July 1st, the Federal Government launched the new Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan in 20 states that chose not to set up their own programs. That means that if you live in Georgia, Minnesota, Arizona, and 17 other states you’re amongst the first consumers to get access to this new benefit created by the health care reform law. If you live in the rest of the 50 states you’ll soon also have access. Most of those states have indicated they will quickly follow the federal government’s lead in setting up these new insurance plans.

You’ve probably heard of “high-risk pools” that currently exist in some states and provide coverage to folks that have been denied by insurance companies. This program is a big improvement on established high risk pools as there is no waiting period to cover your pre-existing conditions and premium rates are set at the average amount a healthy person would pay. That doesn’t necessarily mean that consumers will be able to afford these new plans because subsidies for insurance coverage don’t kick in until 2014, but nonetheless this program acts as a stopgap for certain individuals that currently aren’t covered by employer provided insurance and are finding that the individual market won’t work for them.

"This program is intended to be a bridge for uninsured people, who have been cut out of the private insurance market because of some previous medical problem, until 2014 when pre-existing condition exclusions will no longer be allowed,” said DeAnn Friedholm, Director of our Health Care Reform Campaign.

You can access this new benefit by visiting www.HealthCare.gov; the new website also launched on July 1st as a hub for consumers to identify coverage options in their area and access helpful information about medical care. Check out the website and put in your state to see when the new plans start in your area.

And don’t forget to share your story with us of how this new Pre-Existing Insurance Plan works for you.

comments (3)

Blake,
It sure is good to see the hard work people like you, Meg and many others put forth actually come about to help so many people.
Thanks

I have a problem/question. My COBRA benefits expired on March 31, 2010. I will have been uninsured on September 30, 2010. No insurance company operating in the State of Georgia will insure me due to a pre-existing condition. According to what I have read for my state on this site, I must not only fill out the application, but submit a letter of denial from an insurance company. Any insurance group I tried to apply with wanted not only the application, but the first month's premium before they will even begin to process your application. I have been unemployed for almost a year and I do not have that extremely absorbent amount of money to send to them, only to have to wait 60 plus days to get it back, in order for them to process my application. I'm already on the brink of being on the streets. All I have to offer is the Certificate showing I completed my 18 months of COBRA benefits. Does anyone have any ideas, thoughts, something, that may help me? It would be greatly appreciated. I seriously need health insurance, as millions do and I am just about to give up. Any help or response is much appreciated.

After your Cobra expired, did you apply for an individual policy? If you were denied,and were told you are uninsurable, then go to healthcare.gov and look up rates and benefits for yourself. Unlike the various state high risk pools, you don't have to be denied by 3 companies and the Federal high risk plan has better benefits and lower premiums than the states plan. The only criteria is that you be without insurance for 6 months.

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