CMA Health Policy Blog

Politics Trump Health Care for People with Pre-Existing Conditions

April 16, 2010 at 2:15 pm Judith Stein Leave a comment

The new health reform law encourages states to create or expand existing state high-risk pools as one of the first steps towards insurance market reform and increasing access to health care for people who would not otherwise be able to obtain health insurance.  State high risk pools can provide insurance, for example, for people who are receiving Social Security disability benefits but who are in the 24-month waiting period for Medicare.

Citing objections to a “federal takeover” of health care, Georgia’s Insurance Commissioner, John Oxendine, has announced that Georgia will not establish a high-risk pool for its residents with pre-existing conditions.  The irony is that the health reform law also provides for the establishment of a federal high risk pool for uninsured people with pre-existing conditions that live in states that don’t have their own risk pool.  So, by deciding that Georgia won’t establish its own program, Commissioner Oxendine is guaranteeing a “federal takeover” of health care – Georgia residents who can’t otherwise get insurance will only have the option of insurance through a federal, not state, program.

VG/DC

Entry filed under: Health Care, Public Option. Tags: Health Care Reform, Pre-Existing Conditions.