The Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as the health reform bill will impact
almost every American. One of the most important ways it will affect individual
health insurance is that insurance companies will not be permitted to deny
insurance to those with preexisting illnesses. Another important affect is that
all Americans will be required to hold insurance. Insurance companies will be
prohibited from placing annual and lifetime limits on coverage. Group health
exchanges may also help to reduce the cost of insurance plans, giving
individuals the buying power of large companies. You will be able to purchase
insurance through a state exchange from 2014. The exchanges have yet to be
formed, but the intended goal is to provide more affordable and subsidized
individual plans. The Obama effects on individual health insurance address the
biggest weaknesses in the individual health insurance market. Easy To Insure Me
As the
reform bill was passed policy rates were climbing. A report revealed that
members of the middle class were losing health insurance faster than any other
income group. Those who missed the Government provided safety net because of
their income were thrown on the mercies of the individual market. Here,
insurers have been denied coverage based on preexisting conditions and are
vulnerable to charges of high and ever increasing premiums.
The
limits insurers placed on who gets coverage is one of the three major problems
that needed to be addressed in the individual market. The other two are the
affordability and whether the policy would pay for what is needed when the
insured gets sick. A study found that excluded conditions varied by insurer. In
a 2001 study by the Georgetown Health Policy Institute, researchers 37 percent
of applications were rejected. There were insurers who would turn you down if
you had hay fever.
The public thus was a victim of a roulette
insurance market. How easy is it for individuals to wade their way through the
market to insurers who would cover them is a question. Although federal law
requires insurers to sell policies to certain people who lose group coverage,
including those who lost their jobs due to lay offs; but places no limits on
what an insurer can charge. In February 2010, Connecticut announced that health
premiums for individual medical plans rose in price by 20 percent over in 2009.
In this void have stepped some states in varying degrees. Maine, Massachusetts,
New Jersey, New York and Vermont required insurers to sell individual policies
to everyone, irrespective of their health. Washington state required insurers
to take individuals with some health problems.
While, Iowa required insurers to cover
preexisting conditions in new applicants, if they had insurance previously for
those conditions and did not let the insurance lapse.
Of
those who do buy their own insurance the health insurance market works well for
some; but, not for others. In the individual market prior to the reform bill,
in order to lower their risks insurers preferred the healthiest applicants. In
most states, insurers may consider the health history of the applicant in
deciding coverage and its cost. Unlike group plans offered by employers which
provide coverage to everyone, there is no guarantee in most states individuals
can obtain insurance.
It has been realized that solving problems in
the individual market would improve the health care crisis. In California,
Connecticut and several other states regulators have taken actions against
insurers who revoked individual coverage after policyholders fell ill. Before
the President won the election Senators Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, and
Bob Bennett, a Republican from Utah were supporting a bill that would shift
workers getting coverage through employers to purchase their own insurance. The
intention of their proposal was to break the link between employment and
insurance. The two supporters of the bill believed this would let people keep
their coverage even when they lost or switched their job. The proposal would
have required everyone to have coverage and insurers to sell insurance to all
applicants. The health reform bill has addressed these failings. Both
presidential candidates had expressed the desire to improve options for people
who buy their own coverage.
Candidate Obama wanted to allow individuals and
small firms to have the bargaining leverage and purchasing power of large firms
by creating ways for individuals to buy insurance in groups. Advisory to
candidate McCain had acknowledged the current system was broken. Douglas Holtz
Eakin, who was a senior policy adviser noted that he did not want to give the
impression the individual or small group market is a good place to be, as it
was not
The public hospitals have been
at the vanguard of the victims of inadequate and absent coverage. They have
provided for the uninsured and those under insured by Medicaid, that reimburses
them at below cost. They are also unable to compete with private and nonprofit
hospitals for patents with private health insurance coverage. Yet, the cost of
providing care to the uninsured and under insured has climbed and taxpayer
support remained static.
Currently employers are looking
to shift more burdens to their employees due to rise in the cost of health
insurance. A Reuters research team in analyzing claim data has discovered that
smaller employers saw costs rise the most. According to a report released in
March 2010, the cost for an employer to offer individual plans to workers
increased by 43 percent over a eight-year period. The amount employees paid for
the single plans increased over 64 percent.
Large corporate employees have
enjoyed the most secure and highest quality coverage in the nation during their
employment. They have not been victimized during their employment with
revocation or denial due to preexisting conditions. Nevertheless, a recently
released annual survey by the National Business Group on Health has indicated
that the impact of rising costs means this island of safety is about to be
buffeted. This surveyed large employers indicated they were considering
shifting more of the cost on their employees.
Harvard researchers looking
into what portion of bankruptcy filers filed for medical reasons found some
enlightening information. They found that illness caused the majority of
filings. The study looked at a year that preceded the housing bust; but reveals
what is the general scenario absenting this reason. The larger segment of
filers were covered by insurance they lost or proved to be inadequate. Majority
of these were middle class homeowners who had college degrees. The study
revealed the vulnerability of Americans who were literally one major illness
from bankruptcy. There are big Obama effects on individual health insurance
coverage. Certainly there are due to be major Obama effects on individual
health insurance.
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