Should pre-existing conditions be covered?

[wonklady]

Please tell us your opinion. Should pre-existing conditions be covered? Should health insurance cover people with current or past conditions? Should such people pay higher rates?

[marybeth]

Yes! I remember when, before the ACA (ObamaCare) when preexisting conditions could keep someone from being covered. In general, if someone was employed by a large business with a group plan, everyone was covered. However, employees of small businesses and the self-employed were not able to get affordable insurance (in some cases, no insurance at all).

One problem was that there were people who had no insurance and would have to wait until a problem was serious enough. They were unable to get regular check-ups and physicals from a primary care doctor. So when we, in the hospital saw them it was sometimes too late to do anything. Since they did not have insurance they often lost all assets (title to the house, etc.) and the hospital (all other patients and the taxpayers) got stuck with the rest of the bill.

Another problem is that people who worked for large businesses and had preexisting conditions could not buy individual policies and therefore could not leave the large business to become self-employed or start a small business. For example, a friend had a teenage child who had a childhood cancer. That cancer had been cured ten years earlier but the child was uninsurable because of it. His wife owned a shop so he carried the insurance for the family. That person wanted to leave the large business and start a small business but could not because he would not be able to get a family plan. After ObamaCare started he was able to get insurance for his family and start the small business. He now has ten employees and will be hiring more.

Another problem is that self-employed people or those in small businesses will postpone seeing a doctor about a pain or lump fearing that it may cause them to lose insurance.

Yes, current and past medical conditions should not be allowed to prevent insurance coverage or cause unaffordable premiums.