I don't care whether you like or hate the Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare. Let's dispel some misinformation.
Will repealing Obamacare will cause all people with pre-existing conditions to lose coverage or being barred from coverage by insurers? NO. It's flat out not true.
Anyone who says it will result in loss of coverage due to a pre-existing condition is either ill informed or a liar. I'll let you decide how to categorize the Democrat United States Senators making such statements at the hearings to consider the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Why do I say that? Answer: HIPAA
HIPAA means the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It was sponsored by Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator Nancy Kassebaum and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. HIPAA is mostly known today because TV cop shows constantly show police thwarted from getting key evidence because HIPAA prevents doctors from releasing information.* While Privacy and Security rules did come about because of HIPAA, that wasn't the real reason HIPAA was passed.
Look at the first three letters in the name, HIP which stands for Health Insurance Portability. That's what HIPAA was really about. HIPAA was really about making sure people could get coverage. Particularly people with pre-existing conditions.
Prior to HIPAA, if you or a family member (like a child) had a serious pre-existing condition and did not have coverage then you were subject to a 12 month pre-existing condition exclusion if you did buy coverage. 12 months and no claims would be paid for that serious condition. If you had a pre-existing condition and you had coverage with Company A and you wanted to buy coverage from Company B, you'd be subject to a 12 month pre-ex. 12 months and no claims paid for treatment of that condition. Would you change coverage? No.
The same was true if you worked for an employer and wanted to change jobs - the insurer for you new employer would usually deny coverage for that condition. 12 months and no claims paid for that medical condition. You're offered a great new position. Would you take it? No.**
HIPAA put an end to that. Under HIPAA if you had coverage for 12 months and you maintained coverage without a break of longer than 90 days, you could not be subject to a pre-existing condition exclusion if you changed coverage.
Or as the website GovInfo said on the Anniversary of HIPAA's signing:***
"HIPAA also ensured the portability of health benefits when workers change or lose their jobs and protected workers against discrimination by health plan based on their health status. It eliminated the possibility that individuals can be denied coverage because they have a preexisting medical condition."
Don't believe me or a Government website posted by the Trump Administration? Try a video of President Bill Clinton's remarks while signing HIPAA
https://www.c-span.org/video/?74511-1/health-insurance-reform-signing
So let's say you believe me now. Why the 12 months and 90 days stuff? To prevent people from running around without insurance and only buying coverage when they are diagnosed with a serious condition. Congress didn't want someone buying coverage just the day before they were scheduled for surgery. It created an incentive to buy health insurance and contribute premiums to the insurance pool.
So if Obamacare is repealed and you have health insurance and have had insurance for at least 12 months without an interruption of longer than 90 days?
You are NOT subject to pre-ex.
You cannot be subject to pre-ex.
Insurers may not apply a pre-ex to you.
And as long as you continue to maintain coverage you'll never subject to a pre-ex again. NEVER SUBJECT TO A PRE-EX AGAIN.
What kind of health insurance counts? Group health, individual health, Medicaid, Medicare doesn't matter as long as it is a full health policy not an AFLAC style policy.
That's the truth. HIPAA was not repealed by Obamacare, it was merely overlaid by a law with different rules that did essentially the same thing. If Obamacare is repealed, HIPAA is still in effect and still protects Americans.
If someone tells you repealing Obamacare means 100 million people will be subject to a pre-ex, they either don't know what they are talking about or they are lying.
* By the way, those cop shows are not correct. The HIPAA Privacy Regulations specifically allow sharing medical information with police if the information is required to assist in the enforcement of the law.
** HIPAA had a huge impact on the economy and giving people upward mobility in their careers. People who were locked into a dead end job or stuck with a company that did not appreciate them all of a sudden found career opportunities open to them that they could never accept because of the fear of thousands of dollars of uncovered medical bills. This was an outstanding (and rare) example of Congressional bi-partisanship working to benefit the American people.
***https://www.govinfo.gov/features/HIPAA#:~:text=As%20recorded%20in%20Book%202,be%20measured%2C%20peace%20of%20mind
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