INTENSITY²
Start here => Free For ALL => Topic started by: skyblue1 on July 02, 2010, 11:34:40 AM
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health care
Premiums for pre-existing conditions could be costly
New federal website lets consumers compare prices
by RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
updated 7/1/2010 12:15:21 PM
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's new health coverage for uninsured Americans with health problems won't be cheap — premiums averaging $300 to $600 a month in the largest states, according to a government website that went live Thursday.
From cheaper to most expensive, premiums will range from a $140 a month to as much as $900, Richard Popper, deputy director of a new insurance office at the federal Health and Human Services department, said Wednesday.
The range is so wide because premiums will be keyed to standard individual health insurance rates in each state, which can differ dramatically because of medical costs and the scope of coverage. Also, older people will pay more.
"There are going to be meaningful premiums that are going to be required to stay in this plan ... in the hundreds of dollars," said Popper, with the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.
Estimates on HealthCare.gov show premiums for a 50-year-old in Florida will be $552 to $675 a month; in New York the cost will average from $400 to $600; in Texas it's $491 to $600, and in Pennsylvania $283 on average. In many states, consumers can start enrolling immediately.
Coverage for pre-existing conditions
Despite the cost, consumer advocates are urging uninsured people with health problems to sign up soon, because they cannot be turned away for medical reasons. Family members may be able to help with premiums, which are competitive with rates paid by people who buy their coverage directly from an insurance company.
The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan will start taking applications in every state by the end of the month. Coverage will be available as early as August 1.
Consumers can go to the website to find out about the program, as well as other coverage options in their state, including government plans such as Medicaid, and private insurance. Starting this fall, the site will feature easy price and coverage comparisons among private plans. The new health care law called for the site, as a way to offer Americans one-stop shopping for coverage.
Twenty-nine states and Washington, D.C., will administer their own plans for people with pre-existing conditions. The federal government will run the program in the remaining 21 states.
The coverage is a stopgap for vulnerable people locked out of the private insurance market because of medical problems. It's intended to remain available until 2014, when core health care overhaul provisions take effect. At that time, insurers will be barred from turning away people in poor health, low- and middle-income households will get subsidized coverage, and most Americans will for the first time be required to carry health insurance.
To qualify for the pre-existing condition plan, people must be uninsured for at least six months and have been turned down for coverage by a private insurer because of a medical problem. U.S. citizens and legal residents are eligible.
Could funds run out?
The biggest question hanging over the program is whether the $5 billion allocated will be enough.
Millions of people meet the basic qualifications for coverage, and technical experts who advise Congress and the administration have warned the funds could be exhausted as early as the end of 2011.
HHS officials sidestepped questions about what would happen if the money runs out. One option is for the government to limit enrollment.
Popper estimated about 200,000 people would be enrolled in the program at any one time, but other HHS experts estimated that 375,000 would sign up this year, and the Congressional Budget Office says the total could reach 700,000 in 2013.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
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The public option was never the problem with this bill. The fact that there IS a MANDATE and no government option is the problem. While everyone was clamoring about the public option they should have been complaining about the mandate but they weren't. So now the insurance companies will laugh all the way to the bank charging EVERYONE (because it's mandated) whatever they darn well please and no competition to keep them in check. Did people REALLY believe that insurance companies would lower rates "out of the goodness of their hearts" just because they could make the same profits because they have more customers? If they thought that I have a bridge to sell them in Brooklyn.
In response to people saying the Dems wanted the public option out - you got that right. They are all about these stimulus packages that take from the poor and middle class and give to the fat cats like insurance companies, and that's EXACTLY what this bill does. The Dems had an AGENDA and it wouldn't have worked if they had the public option. They wanted to make the insurance companies richer, not help the uninsured
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It infuriates me that Obama said he wouldn't sign a bill that had no public option, then he signed it anyway. There's nothing in the health care package that passed to keep the health insurance companies' prices in check and we all know that they are a bunch of greedy bastards. They wanted the bill passed with no public option and mandated coverage, and that's just what their political campaign contributions bought them.
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I was born in the first NHS hospital in the world :arrr:
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I was born in the first NHS hospital in the world :arrr:
I like a lot about your NHS and I would like the US to move somewhat in that direction, but what we have because of the new health care bill that passed is not that, IMO.
One thing I don't like about the NHS is how much trouble you seem to have had getting them to let you go to the hospital. I don't know why you needed to go, but a long delay like this couldn't have been helping whatever it was.
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I support the president. But he is too conservative , too bipartisan , and too damn nice.
He should have rammed what he wanted down congress's throat and toid them to vote.
The head lobbiest for the insurance companies wrote the biggest portion of the bill.
I am still without coverage and cannot afford what they are asking. I just hope there is still medicare 5 years from now when I turn 65.
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I support the president. But he is too conservative , too bipartisan , and too damn nice.
He should have rammed what he wanted down congress's throat and toid them to vote.
The head lobbiest for the insurance companies wrote the biggest portion of the bill.
I am still without coverage and cannot afford what they are asking. I just hope there is still medicare 5 years from now when I turn 65.
I heard that before, that the president should have written the rough draft of what he actually wanted and publicly presented it to Congress and the Senate.
How much would coverage for you that covers your pre-existing conditions cost where you live?
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Yeh our NHS isn't perfect. It definitely needs sorting out, but the general idea of it is better than the American system, from what I've read. I mean I prefer this kind of system.
One of the problems with it here is that you really need to push for things if they're not obvious. I mean if you walk into A&E with a shovel shoved up your arse they will sort it out for you. But with stuff related to AS it has been difficult. Even getting my diagnosis was hard as I had literally just turned 18 and as an adult it's difficult. Without having my family , I'd be completely fucked when it comes to medical things.
Having said that tho my psychologist has been great for non-physical stuff. Really good doctor. As is my GP, but just a good doctor alone isn't enough when you need to go from one thing to another ie geting referred for other treatment
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I support the president. But he is too conservative , too bipartisan , and too damn nice.
He should have rammed what he wanted down congress's throat and toid them to vote.
The head lobbiest for the insurance companies wrote the biggest portion of the bill.
I am still without coverage and cannot afford what they are asking. I just hope there is still medicare 5 years from now when I turn 65.
I heard that before, that the president should have written the rough draft of what he actually wanted and publicly presented it to Congress and the Senate.
How much would coverage for you that covers your pre-existing conditions cost where you live?
I dont know , I do know that when I investigated the cost a year or so ago , not counting autism. It was $9800.00 a year with a $5000.00 deductible . No drugs , no doctor visits , no preventative health care. I would hate to see what it is now
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Did you see this site yet?
http://www.pcip.gov/StatePlans.html
It said that estimated premiums for a fifty year old in your state would be between $459 and $561 per month as of July 15, around $6000 per year, which is still expensive, but not quite as expensive as you were quoted before. Also that would cover you with your pre-existing conditions. Unfortunately, that was the only age they estimated premiums for. You can enroll now and coverage would start August 1, assuming you were OK with and paid the premium.
You can't apply unless you have been without insurance for six months and have been denied coverage or denied coverage that would cover your pre-existing conditions.
http://www.pcip.gov/FAQ.html
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the quote I recieved a couple of years ago was for a 58 year old smoker...it was actually the best quote I found. Now that I am 60 and still a smoker, I have no idea what it would be. I will definitely check that out . Thanks
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This is perhaps a bit of a tangent, but as someone who lives in a state that's rather infamously generous with government help (there's such a huge lifestyle gap between being totally dependent on the government and being totally self-reliant that people get scared to start working if they're on disability because they'll get poorer and lose healthcare), medicare health insurance is covering considerably less in my state as of either last month or this month. Used to cover dental. Now it only covers dental for kids. We're going fucking *broke.*
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This is perhaps a bit of a tangent, but as someone who lives in a state that's rather infamously generous with government help (there's such a huge lifestyle gap between being totally dependent on the government and being totally self-reliant that people get scared to start working if they're on disability because they'll get poorer and lose healthcare), medicare health insurance is covering considerably less in my state as of either last month or this month. Used to cover dental. Now it only covers dental for kids. We're going fucking *broke.*
because of decreased tax revenues I think all the states are about broke....which one are you in . California?
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This is perhaps a bit of a tangent, but as someone who lives in a state that's rather infamously generous with government help (there's such a huge lifestyle gap between being totally dependent on the government and being totally self-reliant that people get scared to start working if they're on disability because they'll get poorer and lose healthcare), medicare health insurance is covering considerably less in my state as of either last month or this month. Used to cover dental. Now it only covers dental for kids. We're going fucking *broke.*
because of decreased tax revenues I think all the states are about broke....which one are you in . California?
Oh, it's certainly a universal problem, but it will manifest itself differently state-to-state.
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This is perhaps a bit of a tangent, but as someone who lives in a state that's rather infamously generous with government help (there's such a huge lifestyle gap between being totally dependent on the government and being totally self-reliant that people get scared to start working if they're on disability because they'll get poorer and lose healthcare), medicare health insurance is covering considerably less in my state as of either last month or this month. Used to cover dental. Now it only covers dental for kids. We're going fucking *broke.*
because of decreased tax revenues I think all the states are about broke....which one are you in . California?
Bureaucracies are only good at one thing creating more bureaucrats that's why they are broke.