Pre-Existing Conditions

Without the ACA, there is nothing in federal law to assure people with pre-existing health conditions access to affordable individual market coverage. This post looks at how overturning the ACA would disproportionately affect older adults, younger women, and people living outside metro areas

If the ACA is overturned, federal law protection for people with pre-existing health conditions would end.  This post examines what that could mean for people in the time of COVID-19, including whether and how insurers could deny coverage to people who have had COVID or other pre-existing conditions.

The fate of the Affordable Care Act is again in doubt, with the Supreme Court set to hear arguments in California v. Texas days after the Presidential election. Protections for people with pre-existing conditions are at risk it is worth revisiting what it was like for people with pre-existing conditions to obtain coverage before this law.

With the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a lawsuit before the Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA) suddenly has a much better chance of succeeding. And, that could make protections for people with pre-existing conditions an even bigger campaign issue.

Because the prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders appears to have increased substantially since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, if the ACA is repealed, mental illnesses could be the most common pre-existing conditions.

In recent weeks, the possible overturning of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in court and the upcoming election have focused attention on the issue of protections for people with pre-existing conditions. While the focus has been on the ACA’s private insurance protections, Medicaid also plays a significant role in covering people with pre-existing conditions.

The nomination of a new Supreme Court justice has placed heightened scrutiny on what President Trump’s administration would do to continue the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions if the Supreme Court invalidates the law.

In this perspective published by the Washington Post, KFF Executive Vice President for Health Policy Larry Levitt explains why the popular Affordable Care Act provisions that ensure people with pre-existing conditions can access affordable health insurance can’t easily be preserved if other related provisions are overturned.

This post examines the implications of Republican voters wanting the Supreme Court to overturn the entire Affordable Care Act, but not the law’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

We analyzed data from the 2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to calculate prevalence rates of declinable health conditions. This data note looks at the share of adults ages 18-64 with declinable pre-existing conditions, with a particular focus on women.