Pre-Existing Conditions

One health care issue about which the presidential candidates acknowledge they have differences is how the health care system should treat people with pre-existing health conditions. People who have a health condition (such as an illness or pregnancy) or who are at higher than average risk of needing health care…

Time Magazine’s recent cover story on health care – “Bitter Pill” by Steven Brill – has focused attention on hospital prices, especially for people paying out of their own pockets. This is not a new issue, but certainly one that deserves attention. However, what has been lost in the ensuing…

With the focus now mainly on exchanges, Medicaid expansions, and enrolling the uninsured in newly available coverage arrangements, there is less attention lately to the ACA insurance reforms which have always been the most popular parts of the law – changes which could affect every American’s insurance in some way…

In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman explains why Senator Mark Pryor’s new campaign ad features the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions, the somewhat forgotten “mega provision” of the law. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available online.

The health reform law creates a temporary national high-risk pool to provide health coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions who have been uninsured for six months. It is a temporary measure designed to bridge the gap until the implementation of other coverage provisions in the law that will take…

The September tracking poll examines public opinion about the “super committee” and explores the views and experience of individuals who have pre-existing health conditions, in addition to continuing tracking opinion about the health reform law. Findings from the poll include: Most Americans express doubt that the congressional super committee can…

With several elements of the ACA targeted toward individuals with pre-existing conditions, this month’s Kaiser Health Tracking Poll takes a closer look at this group. Fifty-two percent of Americans say that they or someone else in their household has what would be considered a “pre-existing condition,” and among this group, one…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced significant changes to the premiums charged in the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP), aka the “high risk pool” created by the Affordable Care Act. Premiums will now be up to 40% lower depending on the state (in some states…

In this post for The JAMA Forum, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Larry Levitt discusses the concept of allowing insurers to sell health plans across state lines and how such a proposal could affect people with pre-existing conditions.

This Visualizing Health Policy infographic with JAMA spotlights public opinion on health reform in the United States as of 2017, including priorities and views of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) and its provisions.