Preexisting conditions could cost $140,000 more under AHCA

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Insurance premiums for people with pre-existing conditions could increase by hundreds of thousands of dollars if the American Health Care Act, which passed the House Thursday, becomes law in its current form.

The AHCA allows insurers in states that offer a high-risk pool option to charge people with pre-existing conditions more for insurance if the patients do not maintain continuous coverage. This insurance underwriting practice is currently banned by the Affordable Care Act, and is one of the health law's most popular provisions.

But if the Senate keeps the waiver provision of the AHCA, cancer patients could see premium surcharges as high as $142,650, according to a report from the liberal Center for American Progress.

The CAP report estimates premium surcharges for conditions for a 40-year old with various ailments compared to a healthy 40-year-old, based on data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The surcharge is compared to an assumed $4,020 standard rate for healthy individuals.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/healthcare/preexisting-conditions-could-cost-dollar140000-more-under-ahca/ar-BBAMIvo?li=BBnbfcN&ocid=edgsp

[Hoyt]

1. If this aspect is enacted, the fight moves to the states. GOPer led states will say premiums for

the 80% or so without significant pre-existing conditions will decline with risk pools. They probably will.

The question is, how many people in those states don't really care about people in the "risk pools" and whether there is adequate funding for them. Truthfully, if the final legislation were written that people in the "risk pool" will pay out of their pocket no more than others with similar financial resources, the government will subsidize the differences from taxes, and it's guaranteed to stay that way, it might not be such a bad idea if we aren't going to go to single payer. But that won't happen, and has not happened in the past when we tried risk pools.