The Quiet Battle To Return Pre-Existing Conditions to What It Was

There is a quiet war being waged on people with disabilities also known as a pre-existing condition. As a child, I knew about this war since getting covered for my type-1 diabetes was hard. Many people have pre-existing conditions. Heartless politicians want to make sure these people do not get coverage. The American Health Care Act is a step backwards even if they still cannot charge sick people more for insurance. The House has no idea what they are doing with regard to how this impacts people with pre-existing conditions. Insurers can stop covering, even for people with continuous coverage.

The House bill cannot deny people’s customer policies. We folks with pre-existing conditions need coverage too. We cannot be denied coverage because we have a pre-existing condition. Some states apparently have asked for waivers to charge more, with insurers suddenly charging higher prices, which people could not afford. Health care is hard to debate because really, there are segments of the population like alt-right Republicans who pretty much want people to pay for healthcare, which means many people might not get coverage. This is a quiet genocide. If healthy people get a discount for being healthy, that is just as unfair as charging sick people more for coverage.

It is that much more frightening that insurers all of a sudden can cut your coverage if you didn’t mention a current health condition on your application. This is considered fraud. It is odd that insurers cannot charge sick people more but essential health benefits are waived. They say the bill covers people with pre-existing conditions, but this may be another way of saying they want to throw those people under the bus by making them pay excessive fees. Pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition under the American Health Care Act.

The horrifying part of all of this is that states can now define their own essential benefits if they can show that prices decrease. Under the Obama era, pre-existing condition was not a factor that could be used. Now, with the American Health Care Act, states might be able to get away from this rule if they allow people who have pre-existing conditions to get coverage in a high-risk pool, this supposedly doesn’t limit access to health care for people with pre-existing condition. Some politicians, even moderate Republicans did vote no.

The American Health Care Act, if allowing pre-existing conditions to return, puts people with chronic illnesses at risk. Some Republican senators want to come up with their own version of this bill. Granted whatever they come up with has to serve everybody. Today you switch health plans when you switch employers. Not having to change plans when you switch employers is called continuous coverage. Insurance has always been expensive anyway you look at it. If you get sick while uninsured, you have a pre-existing condition, which is not the way The Affordable Care Act had things set up.

Some claim that people cannot be denied coverage these days because of a pre-existing condition. We have to look out for the alt-right Republican agenda though, which is to bring back pre-existing conditions. Unemployed people need to use COBRA, which I remember often having used as a child. Many people lack insurance coverage because their health is bad and they can’t get it. The Affordable Care Act used to be about making sure disabled people with pre-existing conditions were not charged more than they needed to be. The current American Health Care Act is different in that it allows States to individually decide what to cover and what not to cover. Health care is an ongoing issue. What would it take to make health care free or single-payer in the United States? How much longer are we going to have to wait for coverage? How many people will get messed with? Can I go to law school already?