During my interview with C. Steven Tucker, on Saturday, Tucker said that what was ominously absent from the senate bill was language that would keep people from buying coverage after they became sick.
Right on cue—>
UPDATE on Senate health care Act. New provision added to penalize people who attempt to game the system by waiting until they are sick to buy a policy. Any lapse in coverage of more than 63 days will trigger a 6 month waiting period before you can buy coverage again. This is a VERY good addition. Also, the vote will occur in the Senate BEFORE July 4th. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/
Why specifically ’63’ days? Why not ’52 weeks’?
Retroactive coverage was another Poison Provision in Obamacare designed to collapse the Ponzi scheme, just as planned, so President Hilary could unveil the magic solution of Single Payer.
Wait to buy Homeowners until your total loss house fire, with 100% retro coverage?
Call around for car insurance standing next to your wrecked SUV?
Not madness. Failure by design.
But all this “Repeal And Replace” is just lipstick on a pig.
Fixing Obama’s planned disaster is impossible. It’s a trap, like allowing the Obama Deep State to appoint a freaking Special Prosecutor to impeach you while all the RINOs nod sagely.
pregnancy?
This provision was in place before o’butt care, at least it was something similar, after going without insurance for a certain period of time, a waiting time before coverage for existing conditions kicked in, unless you had continuous insurance. That was the case in the 5 states where I worked.
(I always skipped out just ahead of the sheriff. heh!)
Zonga, you are exactly right. The 63 period was originally designed by the Dept of Labor for those who qualify for COBRA continuation coverage. It has also been used in the group market since 1996 HIPAA law was written.
JMB, Maternity coverage will continue in all states that do not file for a waiver from EHBs – Essential Health Benefits. It will most likely also continue to be covered in states that do file for a waiver but I suspect in those states, if you want coverage for Maternity, you will have to purchase it as a rider a year before you need it. That’s how the individual market worked prior to Obamacare.
Tsunami, they are simply following established protocol. The 63 day period was originally designed by the Dept of Labor for those who qualify for COBRA continuation coverage. It has also been used in the group market since 1996 HIPAA law was written.
Rufus, I agree that “retroactive coverage” is a REALLY dumb idea. However, continuous coverage is not a dumb idea. It has worked in the group health insurance market for the last 21 years. Applying the same concept as originally designed in 1996 HIPAA law to the individual health insurance market is a no brainer. It rewards those who keep consistent coverage by ensuring that their preexisting conditions will continue to be covered and it penalizes those who refuse to keep consistent coverage and attempt to game the system by waiting until they are sick to buy health insurance.
Glad to see it will be gone.
The Left will surely frame it once again as Republicans murdering sick people.
Glad that retroactive coverage is denied now but I still fear this bill is a turkey with time bomb stuffing.
Thank you C Steven Tucker for all of your comments. They are very helpful, especially to those of us who don’t have much knowledge about this complicated subject.