Health Affairs September 11, 2020
Protections for people with preexisting medical conditions will continue to be a hot topic as the 2020 election cycle heats up. Unsurprisingly, ensuring that people with preexisting conditions have access to affordable, quality health insurance is widely supported by the public. Given broad public support, politicians of all stripes and persuasions now pledge to protect those with health issues. But protecting people with preexisting conditions is easier said than done.
This post discusses what it means to cover preexisting medical conditions, offers a tool to assess candidate claims, and reviews a set of congressional proposals that purport to offer Affordable Care Act (ACA) alternatives that protect people with preexisting conditions but that ultimately fall short. With coverage for millions of...