California Pre-Existing Condition Plan a go (first consumer pgm under health care reform)

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

California's new federally backed health plan for the medically uninsurable - the first consumer program offered under the federal health law - began operating Monday after weeks of delays waiting for contracts to be finalized.

The high-risk pool, known as the Pre-Existing Condition Plan, is available to legal residents who've been uninsured for six months prior to applying for the federal program and have a medical condition that has put private coverage out of reach.

The delays have made California perhaps the last state to get its pool up and running. Even though California already operates a state high-risk plan, the federal plan was postponed because the insurers that offer coverage in the state pool chose not to participate in it. The state then had to negotiate contracts with third-party companies to administer the program.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/26/BA601G1O6R.DTL

[pnwmom]

1. K & R. n/t

[kestrel91316]

2. What's it cost? $1500/mo?

[Recursion]

3. RTFA

Premiums vary by age and geography, but are not based on health conditions or factors such as smoking.

In the Bay Area, for example, rates range from $140 a month for people 15 or younger to $1,003 monthly for those older than 74.

So, somewhere between $140 a month and $1003 a month in the Bay Area, which is probably higher than the rest of the state.

[Name removed]

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[DFab420]

4. From the link the in OP

In the Bay Area, for example, rates range from $140 a month for people 15 or younger to $1,003 monthly for those older than 74. The Bay Area, for the purposes of the new insurance pool, includes San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/26/BA601G1O6R.DTL#ixzz13UXu5WaS

That should at least give a bit of context for cost.. Nothing near $1500/mo...