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"Don't worry Mr. President; we should have this done in about six months...."
My friend jpmassar up in the Bay Area has been talking about the Homeowner’s Bill of Rights this past week, but a lot of his writings involve health insurance/care reform. His story today is a must-read for those who are currently receiving treatment for pre-existing conditions and need affordable healthcare. It’s about a transition program within PPACA (the recently Supreme-Court-approved health care bill) to people insured to 2014, when the full bill takes effect, alive. So far, about 70,000 have used it, but with the constitutionality of the bill settled it should soon be many more than that. I’ll give you a teaser here, then go to that link above for more. This could be a lifesaver for someone you know.
Everyone knows that the provision of the PPACA that allows adult kids to be able to stay on their parents’ insurance will continue. And 13,000,000 people are going to take notice as they soon get rebates from their insurance companies because of the PPACA’S spending regulations. But for the most part lost admidst the hoopla are some of the biggest winners of this 5-4 sqeaker: seventy thousand people who have a pre-existing condition and who are now getting health insurance and treatment.
These people are beneficiaries of one of the PPACA’s best (or worst…) kept secrets — the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, or PCIP. They will now continue to receive benefits until 2014 — instead of being left high and dry sick or dead as Alito, Thomas, Scalia and Kennedy would have preferred.
Projected to benefit over 300,000 US residents after a year of operation, the PCIP program is now only serving 70,000 after almost two years. As such, it is has plenty of space for you (if you need it and qualify), or your relative, or your neighbor, or your acquantaince, or even a stranger you happen to strike up a conversation with. As I detailed several months ago I might have saved a life by telling someone about the program. You might be able to as well.
But many of us here know almost nothing about the program, and some might not even that it exists at all. As Kossack Boris49 put it a year ago
Ask a few people what ((the PPACA)) means to them and their families, they don’t know much more than 26 year olds are covered under their parents plan and pre-existing conditions cannot be excluded by insurers… they (and I) have no clue.
Hopefully I’m about to change that…If you learn a couple simple facts about the PCIP — or even just keep in mind that it exists — you may be able to point someone towards getting life-saving or life-changing treatments. As of August 1st, 2012, someone you know might be able to start getting desperately needed medical care. Not for free, and that’s unfortunate; but potentially for bazillions less that it would have cost them to purchase such treatment without this insurance, making help a possibility instead of an impossibility.
Here’s the straight dope:
If a person
- has a pre-existing condition
- cannot get insurance at all or at a non-exhorbitant price because of it
- has not been insured for a least six months
- and is a US citizen or legal immigrant
THEN THEY ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THE PCIP PROGRAM, and
here’s where you send them or go yourself to start helping them.
There’s more; check it out!
I’d LOVE to take advantage of this, and even though I have health insurance, along with a pre-existing condition that would keep me from applying and being approved for a different, cheaper policy, I can’t even think about trying because of the “not been insured for at least six months” provision. I simply can’t risk being without insurance for 6 months. Definitely one weakness in the provision, and I suspect it’s the one that is preventing more people from taking advantage of it.
Anon, you should check out the MRMIP- similiar to PCIP yet does not have the 6-month no-insurance requirement. More expensive and has a waiting list, but could be worth it for you and others in CA. http://www.mrmib.ca.gov/MRMIB/MRMIP_FAQ%27s_11_09_2011.pdf
MRMIP is where I’m at already. And my understanding is that California is simply expanding MRMIP to eventually become the “exchange”. So I can’t drop out of MRMIP for 6 months so that I can get in it again. Well, I could, but then I’d be without coverage for 6 months.
And you’re right…MRMIP ain’t cheap.
I’m basically in a rut where I have to wait for the other major provisions of Obamacare to kick in.
I don’t really “get” the whole PCIP vs MRMIP price differential…why should someone who does not have insurance pay less than someone who has it currently? I get the goal to get everyone insured, but really the pricing are so much different. Sorry about that.
I think it’s as simple as that the people who haven’t had insurance for six months are perceived to be more truly needy.
I look forward to this all being behind us (presuming Obama’s re-election and ability to veto Republican attempts to dismantle PPACA) in 2014. For now, it’s a mess.
I TOTALLY agree. I have personally been covered all of my life until today because of self-employment and a pre-existing condition simply, hypothyroid GEEZE are they serious? so now I have to look at an expensive State plan (MRMIP). I am considering using the online docs at $40.00 a pop and going without insurance for the 6 months to drop the monthly cost down $200 (PCIP).
What is the Aug 1 date mentioned? PCIP has been around for a while here in CA. Is Aug 1 when it is rolled out in other states?
I think that it involves roll-out to other states. I’ll ask jp.