The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, prohibited insurers from turning away consumers with pre-existing medical conditions, a practice that was once standard in the industry.
Among the conditions that once commonly made insurers deny coverage, according to a list assembled by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, were:
- AIDS/HIV
- Lupus
- Alcohol abuse/drug abuse with recent treatment
- Mental disorders
- Alzheimer's/dementia
- Multiple sclerosis
- Arthritis (rheumatoid), fibromyalgia, other inflammatory joint disease
- Muscular dystrophy
- Cancer within some period of time (e.g., 10 years)
- Cerebral palsy
- Severe obesity
- Organ transplant
- Congestive heart failure
- Paraplegia
- Coronary artery/heart disease, bypass surgery
- Paralysis
- Crohn's disease/ulcerative colitis
- Parkinson's disease
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)/emphysema
- Pending surgery or hospitalization
- Diabetes mellitus
- Pneumocystic pneumonia
- Epilepsy
- Pregnancy or expectant parent
- Hemophilia
- Sleep apnea
- Hepatitis C
- Stroke
- Kidney disease, renal failure
- Transsexualism
The American Health Care Act, as the House Republican health care bill is called, does not explicitly eliminate Obamacare's coverage guarantee.
But the bill would allow states to obtain a waiver from the federal government to eliminate another Obamacare mandate that prohibits insurers from charging people with pre-existing medical conditions more for insurance.
That means that some people with pre-existing medical conditions could see their premiums spike dramatically, if the House bill becomes law.
In other words, a patient with diabetes, heart disease or cancer might still be "guaranteed" coverage, but only if he or she agreed to pay five or 10 times as much for a health plan.
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