Posted on 10/24/2013 10:45:59 AM PDT by St_Thomas_Aquinas
A new nationwide effort to provide health coverage to uninsured Americans with preexisting conditions is off to a slow start, largely due to high costs and a lack of awareness.
As of Nov. 1, only 8,011 people were enrolled in the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, numbers from the Dept. of Health and Human Services show.
People who have been denied coverage by private insurers because of a preexisting condition and who have been uninsured for at least six months are eligible to participate in PCIP. The idea is to give patients who have no access to private coverage because of their condition a way to get insurance while they wait for the state-based health insurance exchanges to launch in 2014.
Almost 6 million Americans are potentially eligible for the program, which runs through 2013, according to a report published in October by The Commonwealth Fund. However, because the $5 billion in federal funding designated by the law won't be enough to cover all eligible individuals, the Congressional Budget Office projects enrollment will average 200,000 a year between 2011 and 2013.
The PCIP is administered by either individual states or the federal government. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia decided to let the federal government oversee their programs. People in those areas began signing up July 1. The remaining 27 states chose to administer their own programs. Their start dates varied, but all plans are up and running. Enrollment varies
Enrollment numbers vary widely by state due to a combination of factors, including differences in PCIP costs, the number of uninsured people and the insurance terrain for high-risk individuals in each state, said Jean Hall, PhD, associate research professor at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning's Division of Adult Studies.
Pennsylvania, which manages its own program, had the highest enrollment, with 1,657 people as of Nov. 1. By contrast, no one had enrolled in the federally administered PCIP in the District of Columbia, and one person joined the federally administered program in North Dakota.
Nationally, the numbers are lower than expected primarily because most consumers don't know the program exists, Dr. Hall said. That could change because some states are beginning to reach out to advocacy groups that serve people with chronic conditions, said Dr. Hall, a co-author of the Commonwealth Fund report. Alerting people who might qualify for the insurance worked in Pennsylvania, she said. The state sent a letter to people on the waiting list for its adultBasic, a state-managed insurance program for people who have gone without coverage for 90 days.
Does anyone with brain cells functioning believe that any of these political hacks give a damn about anyone’s health??
The guy in charge of paper enrollees, at todays hearings, indicated his organization processed and enrolled about 5K applications. So zerocare on-line processed only 3000? just askin’
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.