I'm going to do my best to provide you with information on how to access some of the immediate benefits of the Patient Protection and Affordable care Act. HHS is calling these immediate benefits (if you can afford them) the bridge to 2014.
Those of you who say the PPACA, "is better than nothing", are correct. Democrats can be proud of themselves, they passed health insurance reform, it's better than nothing--but barely.
These new federal High Risk pools will not be cheap or affordable, but hey, if you have the bucks, it's better than nothing.
In some states, premiums will be as high as $900 a month.
"There are going to be meaningful premiums that are going to be required to stay in this plan ... in the hundreds of dollars," said Richard Popper, with the Health and Human Services Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.
Here is the link to the HHS web site where you can click around and get some rudimentary information on what's available in your state.
Please click here for more official HHS information on High Risk Pools and pre-existing condition which qualify.
These 21 states have asked the federal government to run the high-risk pool rather than administer it themselves:
Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming.
Federal law establishes general eligibility, but state programs can vary on cost, benefits, and determination of pre-existing condition.
APPLY TODAY
Residents of these states can apply starting Thursday. Administration officials said people who apply by July 15 will begin receiving coverage by Aug. 1.
The remaining 29 states and the District of Columbia will run their own programs and begin accepting applications over the next several months.
Several of the largest states operating their own plans, including California, Illinois and New York, are not expected to begin enrollment until August. The administration expects that all states will begin enrolling people by the end of the summer.
Premiums, as well as benefits, are expected to vary greatly from state to state, with some plans charging as little as $140 a month and some as much as $900 a month, according to administration officials. Premiums could vary by age. And some states may offer a variety of benefit packages.
If You're in an existing High Risk Pool.
The PPACA requires that you be uninsured for a period of at least six months in order to qualify for the new High Risk Pool. This means (unless HHS changes the regs.), that if you're already in a state run High Risk Pool, you will not be eligible for the less expensive new High Risk Pool. Yes, this is a huge problem. The existing state run High Risk Pools will be more expensive with less generous benefits, and you cannot move from a state pool to the new federal pool. The politicians Democrats who own this bill, will have to address this and many other problems to the satisfaction of the voters over the coming months.
Will Anyone who can pay the premium (if they meet the eligibility requirements) be able to join?
No. The PPACA allocated $5 billion between now and 2014, the funds are woefully inadequate, this is why you need to act quickly.
Several independent analyses, including one by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, have estimated that more money would probably be needed because demand will be so high.
Voters will weigh in in 2010 and 2012 on whether what we're seeing fulfills the promise of the legislation which was to make healthcare affordable and give the American people some protection.
Speaking of affordable, in California, Anthem Blue Cross (remember they wanted to raise premiums for individual policies 39%), well I have some good news, they've reconsidered, and now are seeking a small 20% increase.
As I've said in the past, I just don't know how millions and millions of Americans will survive until 2014. COBRA subsidies ending, unemployment insurance for the long term unemployed in dire jeopardy, so the specter of large numbers of Americans added to the ranks of the uninsured between now and 2014 is what we're facing.
And as many of us feared, premiums will explode between now and then, setting the stage for some very rough going in 2014. Insurers are in business for only one reason to deliver profits to wall Street, they cannot operate at a loss.
This is why going forward we need to wage a fight for Allan Grayson's HR 4789, a four page bill which "allows any American to buy into Medicare at cost."
This is also why I will go to Washington DC on August 4th to tell the stories of Americans who cannot access healthcare and rely on the Free Clinics Association to provide them with something--anything.
If you want help us with a small donation, we're very grateful to you.
The funds donated to the Progressive Congress Action Fund, a 501(C)4 not for profit, will be used to advocate on behalf of the progressive agenda, to advance progressive legislation, and may include payments to individuals engaged in fund raising.