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Before the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges began, Maine had an “invisible high-risk pool” in place. Republican lawmakers are pointing to it as a success — but it was better funded by a vast margin than the high-risk pools in the House replacement bill.
The Republican health plan would require insurers to offer coverage to people who have preexisting medical conditions. But if states opt to allow insurers to charge sick people more than healthy ones, people who have been more than 63 days without coverage could see significantly higher insurance costs.
What will happen to people with preexisting conditions is one worry some Americans expressed; the high costs of insurance under Obamacare is another.
"I'm not going to risk my son's health on the political whims of Jefferson City," says one Missouri father, whose son requires about $20,000 to $30,000 in medical care expenses a year. The new GOP health bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act lets states decide whether or not insurers must cover people with preexisting conditions, such as birth defects.
With limited federal subsidies under the GOP health care bill, experts say states like California and New York would be under pressure to cut costs. That could mean shrinking benefits and dropping the prohibition against charging sicker patients higher premiums.
CEO Paul Markovich said he opposes the Republican plan because it would allow insurers to once again discriminate against people with preexisting conditions. "We are better than that," he said.
Despite pressure from the White House and GOP leaders, Republicans have not yet secured enough votes to pass their health law replacement bill. Here’s a look at their choices going forward.
Before the federal health law guarantee that consumers cannot be turned down because of their medical history, it was difficult to balance insurers’ needs to make a profit and individuals’ needs for coverage.
The federal health law made it feasible for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program to expand its efforts and help patients buy marketplace insurance plans to cover drugs and other health care.
They are in love. They also are worried about the uncertainty of the health law. So, they have a modest wedding during a blizzard so she can get his job-based insurance as soon as possible.
Before the health law, buying an individual policy that included coverage for pregnancy and labor was extremely difficult.
People with preexisting conditions will still be able to buy coverage under the GOP plan, but it’s not clear there will be plans anyone can afford.
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