Government finds up to half of Americans under 65 have preexisting conditions (WP)

[somone]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/17/AR2011011702842.html

Government finds up to half of Americans under 65 have preexisting conditions
By Amy Goldstein

As many as 129 million Americans under age 65 have medical problems that are red flags for health insurers, according to an analysis that marks the government's first attempt to quantify the number of people at risk of being rejected by insurance companies or paying more for coverage.

The secretary of health and human services is scheduled to release the study on Tuesday, hours before the House plans to begin considering a Republican bill that would repeal the new law to overhaul the health-care system. The report is part of the Obama administration's salesmanship to convince the public of the advantages of the law, which contains insurance protections for people with preexisting medical conditions.

Republicans immediately disparaged the analysis as "public relations." An insurance industry spokesman acknowledged that sick people can have trouble buying insurance on their own but said the analysis overstates the problem.

The study found that one-fifth to one-half of non-elderly people in the United States have ailments that trigger rejection or higher prices in the individual insurance market. They range from cancer to chronic illnesses such as heart disease, asthma and high blood pressure...

[leftstreet]

1. Free Market Healthcare can kiss my ass n/t

[Hannah Bell]

2. kr

[Hugabear]

3. How long before they announce that life itself is a pre-existing condition?

Wouldn't surprise me in the least

[emilyg]

5. +++++

[old mark]

4. I had bypass surgery in 2003, and have since found out that no

private insurer except Blue Cross will insure ANYONE who has had any type of open chest surgery, and that Blue Cross wanted over $800 per month for insurance just for me. This was in 2007-I am sure it has increased since. I now have a PA state backed insurance that has increased from $230 to over $630 per month since 2007...I am noping to be able to afford further increases till I can get medicare in 2 more years.

K&R
mark

[Manifestor_of_Light]

6. It's called "breathing"......

:shrug:

[Missy Vixen]

7. Wow. What a shock.

I'll bet the health insurance lobbyists had NO idea about this before the health care reform bill was created.

:eyes: