🏳️‍🌈✝️ 50 Health Issues That Count as a Pre-existing Condition - Don't Believe the LIE that insurance will be "BETTER"

Living with HIV and concerned with the GOP HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES decsion to KILL the ACA, while RISKING the lives of MILLIONS of AMERICANS

Rainbow Pastor David

May 13, 2017

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As a person living with HIV I am very concerned not only for myself but for the MILLIONS of people living with PRE-EXISTING HEALTH CONDITIONS who will either LOSE HEALTH COVERAGE because of their pre-existing condition or from the FACT that Healthcare will be so EXPENSIVE that they can no longer afford it!!

It has become PAINFULLY CLEAR that the REPUBLICAN HOUSE could care less about the AMERICAN PEOPLE. I personally have also found out from a letter received from SENATOR JAMES M. INHOFE of OKLAHOMA that he could CARE LESS about the OKLAHOMA PEOPLE he is supposed to be REPRESENTING!!! Read his response full of LIES to my letter here, Sen.Jim Inhofe is part of the PROBLEM NOT the SOLUTION.

Trump plans on making a multi-billion dollar cut to Medicaid and with the list of over 50 pre-existing conditions, marginalized groups affording insurance is going to be tough.

The Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which narrowly passed a vote in the House, rolls back protections for people with pre-existing conditions, which could increase health care costs for an estimated 130 million Americans.

The American Health Care Act stipulates that states can allow insurers to charge people with pre-existing conditions more for health insurance (which is banned under the ACA) if the states meet certain conditions, such as setting up high-risk insurance pools. Insurers still cannot deny people coverage outright, as was a common practice before the ACA's passage, but they can hike up premiums to an unaffordable amount, effectively pricing people out of the market.

In fact, premiums could reach as high as $25,700 per year for people in high-risk pools, according to a report from AARP. People who receive insurance through their employer would not be affected, unless they lost their job or moved to the individual insurance market for some other reason.

But what counts as a pre-existing condition? While it depends on the insurer—they have the right to choose what counts as "pre-existing"—these ailments and conditions were universally used to deny people coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit focusing on health care research.

• AIDS/HIV
• Alcohol or drug abuse with recent treatment
• Alzheimer’s/dementia
• Anorexia
• Arthritis
• Bulimia
• Cancer
• Cerebral palsy
• Congestive heart failure
• Coronary artery/heart disease, bypass surgery
• Crohn’s disease
• Diabetes
• Epilepsy
• Hemophilia
• Hepatitis
• Kidney disease, renal failure
• Lupus
• Mental disorders (including Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Schizophrenia)
• Multiple sclerosis
• Muscular dystrophy
• Obesity
• Organ transplant
• Paraplegia
• Paralysis
• Parkinson’s disease
• Pending surgery or hospitalization
• Pneumocystic pneumonia
• Pregnancy or expectant parent (includes men)
• Sleep apnea
• Stroke
• Transsexualism

But Cynthia Cox, Kaiser's associate director, notes that the above list is a conservative sampling of all of the issues and maladies that insurers could count as pre-existing conditions." There are plenty of other conditions, even acne or high blood pressure, which could have gotten people denied from some insurers but accepted and charged a higher premium by other insurers" says Cox.

Here are some examples of those other conditions that experts have noted could hike premiums:

• Acid Reflux
• Acne
• Asthma
• C-Section
• Celiac Disease
• Heart burn
• High cholesterol
• Hysterectomy
• Kidney Stones
• Knee surgery
• Lyme Disease
• Migraines
• Narcolepsy
• Pacemaker
• Postpartum depression
• Seasonal Affective Disorder
• Seizures
• "Sexual deviation or disorder"
• Ulcers

The left-leaning Center for American Progress notes that high blood pressure, behavioral health disorders, high cholesterol, asthma and chronic lung disease, and osteoarthritis and other joint disorders are the most common types of pre-existing conditions.

Just how expensive are pre-existing conditions? A recent report from the Center for American Progress found that insurers could charge people with metastatic cancer as much as $142,650 more for their coverage, a 3,500% increase.

Rep. Tom MacArthur (NJ-3), representative of Burlington and Ocean Counties in south central New Jersey wrote, The MacArthur Amendment, which will allow states to apply for waivers so insurers DON’T have to cover the ACA’s 10 Essential Health Benefits  and will also allow insurers to DISCRIMINATE against people with pre-existing health conditions.

What Marketplace health insurance plans cover – ACA Essential Health Benefits

• What Marketplace health insurance plans cover
• Preventive health services
• Coverage for pre-existing conditions
• Dental coverage in the Marketplace
• Birth control benefits
• Breastfeeding benefits
• Mental health & substance abuse coverage

All plans offered in the Marketplace cover the same set of essential health benefits.

Every health plan must cover the following services:

• Ambulatory patient services (outpatient care you get without being admitted to a hospital)
• Emergency services
• Hospitalization (like surgery and overnight stays)
• Pregnancy, maternity, and newborn care (both before and after birth)
• Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment (this includes counseling and psychotherapy)
• Prescription drugs
• Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices (services and devices to help people with injuries, disabilities, or chronic conditions gain or recover mental and physical skills)
• Laboratory services
• Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management
• Pediatric services, including oral and vision care (but adult dental and vision coverage aren’t essential health benefits)

Additional benefits

Plans must also include the following benefits:

• Birth control coverage
• Breastfeeding coverage

Essential health benefits are minimum requirements for all Marketplace plans. Specific services covered in each broad benefit category can vary based on your state’s requirements. Plans may offer additional benefits, including:

• Dental coverage
• Vision coverage
• Medical management programs (for specific needs like weight management, back pain, and diabetes)

We still have time to let our VOICES be heard. We can contact our State Senate members to let them know how we feel. I personally contacted my State Senate Members from OKLAHOMA who are in TOTAL AGREEMENT with the GOP HOUSE on this BILL so they have proven that they DO NOT CARE about the PEOPLE. It does NOT matter at least I made my VOICE HEARD. If enough people actually CONTACT them maybe it will make a difference. ALL we can do is TRY!!!

Click on the link below to look up how to contact your individual State Senate. Take the time to make a difference today.

Contact your SENATE MEMBERS: https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?OrderBy=state

Modified from original article written by Alicia Adamczyk for Time