Indiana Healthcare Reform Laws Failing
Recent efforts by the state of Indiana to increase the number of its residents with health insurance have failed.
One measure, taken in 2004 was to pass a law prohibiting insurance companies from denying people with pre-existing health conditions. Despite the law passing, the last three years have actually seen an increase of about 50,000 uninsured Hoosiers. This was due mostly in part to the loss of company-sponsored group coverage for employees. Other factors such as unaffordable deductibles and premiums left some residents with no other choice for coverage, also contributing to the increase.
In a pilot program prior to the law passing, several out of state companies such as Continental General Insurance Co. and American Community Mutual reported on a pool of people applying for insurance. Reports revealed the number of people approved for coverage, those who were denied, and the pre-existing conditions that caused those denials. According to Indiana’s Department of Insurance, some of the most common conditions included migraine headaches, asthma, acne, and joint complications.
Republican Senator Patricia Miller after reviewing the pilot program said companies were allowed a ten-year exclusion of coverage for these common pre-existing conditions, the idea being that some insurance was better than none. Since the pilot program, about 67% of 1,778 applicants have been turned down for coverage. The fundamental crisis in this complex market continues to be the cost associated with health care and who bears the biggest burden of that cost.
Many insurance providers would cover more residents if they didn’t have to endure the economic weight of high risk individuals with pre-existing conditions. With monthly health care costs in Indiana soaring as much as housing costs, those who are in the greatest need of coverage continue to face the highest costs, toughest analysis, and highest rate of rejection.
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