We’re heading back to the dark old days …
Prior to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), our “choice” in health care was often determined by where we worked or by cost. However, insurance companies had many more “choices” available to them – to outright reject us, retroactively cancel policies, apply caps, limit coverage and charge us whatever they could. In 2009, 1 in 7 applicants with pre-existing conditions could not get insurance at any price from the four largest insurance companies. In 2016, an average of 27% of adult Americans under the age of 65 had health conditions that would leave them uninsurable pre-ACA. In case we’ve forgotten what it was like, BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois published their pre-existing conditions list here, (including a 25% upcharge for being overweight!), which will be immediately reinstated if the ACA is repealed.
“…informed decisions” doesn’t equal health insurance coverage.
Although Seema Verma, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and MedicaidServices (CMS), says she “is committed to empowering patients to take ownership of their healthcare and ensuring they have access to the resources they need to make informed decisions,” she tweeted her approval of an article that called for “turning away patients based on their health status, or charging older, sicker patients more than three times what they charged younger, healthier ones — two valuable strategies for keeping costs down.”
