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Subscribe to RSSWASHINGTON -- Citing financial concerns, the Obama administration has begun quietly winding down one of the earliest programs created by the president's health care overhaul, a plan that helps people with existing medical problems who can't get private insurance.
In an afternoon teleconference with state counterparts, administration officials said Friday the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, or PCIP, will stop taking new applications. People already in the plan will not lose coverage.
Designed as a stopgap solution until the law's full consumer protections are in effect next year, PCIP has served more than 135,000 people, a lifeline for patients with serious medical problems such as cancer and heart failure. But Congress allocated a limited amount of money, and the administration's technical experts want to make sure it doesn't run out.
Health and Human Services Department spokeswoman Erin Shields Britt said PCIP has "provided needed security to some of our nation's sickest people."
The plan covers people who have had problems getting private insurance because of a medical condition and have been uninsured for at least six months. Premiums are keyed to average rates charged in each state, which means they're not necessarily cheap, often amounting to several hundred dollars a month for middle-aged individuals.
"We're glad this program was here and able to help," said Amie Goldman, who oversees the program in Wisconsin. "I'm certainly disappointed we won't be able to serve everyone who has a need for this coverage."
Starting next January 1, insurance companies will no longer be able to turn anyone away because of poor health. At the same time, the federal government will begin subsidizing coverage for millions of individuals who have no access to employer plans. That means many of the people currently in the PCIP program may end up with lower premiums once the government's financial help is factored in.
The enrollment suspension will take effect immediately in 23 states where the federal government administers the program, Goldman said. Residents of states that run their own programs may have longer. Wisconsin residents, for example, have until March 2 to apply.
Enrollment around the country has been lower than expected, partly because some people could not afford the premiums. But individual cases have turned out to be costlier than originally projected.
In documents provided to the states, the administration said the program has spent about $2.4 billion in taxpayer money on medical claims and nearly $180 million on administrative costs, as of Dec. 31. Congress allocated $5 billion to the plan.
"From the beginning (the administration) has been committed to monitoring PCIP enrollment and spending closely and making necessary adjustments in the program to ensure responsible management of the $5 billion provided by Congress," PCIP director Richard Popper wrote in a memo. "To this end, we are implementing a nationwide suspension of enrollment."
The sole exception: program beneficiaries who move to another state will still be able to get coverage in their new home.
Associated Press writer Ann Sanner in Ohio contributed to this report.
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Al Kyda...so what is a life worth? $1,000,000 to keep someone alive for 2 more years? $200,000 to keep them alive for 6 more months? With todays technology, we can certainly keep folks alive longer, but it comes at a cost. What quality of life is required for those additional months? And who decides whether or not to spend money to keep someone alive? Will you write the check from your savings account? Those are some of the realities. None of them are easy.
poor dem so, what are you saying someone with cancer should just die? FYI that could have been my sister. She ( a social worker) was diagnosed w/breast cancer while she was unemployed. We just happen to live in Mass. She was able to get treatment at a low cost and is now on the road to recovery. She now is employed and yes paying an affordable healthcare rate. The same situation goes for a friend of mine, also diagnosed with breast cancer. She has recovered and now back to teaching.
Just hope no health crisis hit your household. Then you will have a change of heart.
Under a Repugnican healthcare plan, that depends on how much money you have.
Al Kyda you wish it was that simple. It's simple math- there is no money tree that can provide endless health care at all costs. Those of us who worked 3 jobs to get an education to have a job and pay our own way owe you no apologies.
Feds crack down on Medicare readmissions
Why did Obama cave on the public option?
"Enrollment around the country has been lower than expected, partly because some people could not afford the premiums. But individual cases have turned out to be costlier than originally projected."
For the last time! Affordable coverage for all is a fairy tale...an unattainable dream. People can't afford the premiums? Costlier than originally projected? This is news? To Whom! Only the idiots who bought in to the Obamacare propaganda fell for that and they are in for a very rude awakening.
When was the last time any government regulated program lowered participation costs? We had a 1000 page bill that no one could read and understand crammed down our throat, till death do us part!
Since 2001 the US has spent roughly 1.5 trillion dollars (1,500 billion) on war... yet we can't find 5 billion (1/3 of a percent) to help American citizens?
Don't you just Love the name "Affordable Healthcare Act" Have you seen your premiums fall lately
And we thought the health care system was so expensive and screwed up already it could not possibly get worse, just wait for we haven't seen anything yet!
Dan: Yep, if you think health care is expensive now, just wait until it's "free" :-/
I thought this provision was odd because I thought all states had some form of comprehensive coverage for people who are disqualified. My husband got on such a plan more than 10 years ago. I will say I was surprised at the quality of coverage because when I had checked into the same thing for myself some years before that, premiums were high and the coverage was abysmal, something like a $100K lifetime cap and very high deductible (well, compared to what was typical in those days). But comp plans also require a waiting period (in our state it was 6 months) before coverage takes effect. Maybe tghe Obamacare version was kinder that way. This is the cruelty of markets for healthcare. It's one thing if an insurer won't accept your house or your car, but when they do not accept your vital organs, well. . . .
What is going to Be funny with Obama care is this, when the house refuses to pass the money part of the Obama care it will probably die. I could not be happier. He may just rob medicare again as he did to get it started.
You have been warned before about this law: first the deductions for home care were dropped as too expensive, next, the amount taken from your pay increased over the planned deductions, next, time tested and recommended medical tests for women and men were deemed unnecessary by the "panel", next, many states have decided they cannot afford the insurance pools and have turned down participation to let the feds run them, next, people were told they could keep their own insurance/doctors, that was disproven just last week, for thousands they will not keep their plans or doctors, next, there is to be no more acceptance of uninsurables as part of the obamacare program, this one element being the strongest part of the plan and why many accepted it. What else will happen in the future? The joke will continue to be on you as the funding for those who get dumped in medicaid will have to be borne by the middle class, probably you, and it will not get any cheaper as time goes by. Lastly, the worst news of all is that medical insurance will increase as it has in MA to the extent that other state programs have suffered since there is not enough money to go around, yup, increase.. sorry but things are going to get a lot worse.
Democrats should never have forced the free clinics to shut down decades ago....
We have a free clinic in our town and have had for years. I don't know what's going to happen with the new law because it can not accept anyone with any insurance however when people are going to be required to have insurance they still will not be able to afford their deductible and co-pay so really don't know how it is going to help the working poor. Everyone from the doctors down to the receptionist and nurses all are volunteers and no one is paid and many of the drugs are donated from nursing homes and are regulated by law. No narcotics are ever there. These people can not afford a $120 office call and $50 of meds and have to meet a deductible of like $2500 before their insurance pays. It is going to be a mess because the people that make these laws have no idea what happens in the real world, they are so far removed that they assume everyone lives like they do.
gram.....great comment
I'm laughing my a$$ off at all of the idiot Kool-Aid drinking delusional liberals who are too damned f'ing stupid to understand that plain old common sense tells you Obamacare won't work. '
Hey liberals, one of the main goals of Obamacare was to get this exact group, (those with pre-existing conditions) covered. Remember?? And now, because the government was wrong about the numbers (GASP!! Imagine THAT!!) The uninsured will be the first to be thrown under the bus.
And this will just be the beginning. As this whole cluster F**K called Obamacare begins to unravel, you'll see the left demanding even more taxes to pay for it. Oh yes, that's already starting. And the great thing about it is, the left just got their taxes on the rich raised a few months ago. And of course the idiots who thought it was only going to be the rich, also found their own paychecks were less too. But Obama wasn't going to raise taxes on the middle class. Remember? Hey, I know, we'll apply the same logic the liberals use to excuse raising taxes on someone else. The taxes weren't raised, they were just returned to the level they were before. Remember that great display of logic by the left? They weren't raised, they were just returned to the level they were before. I would have loved to have seen the look on the faces of some of these stupid little f**cks when they opened their first paycheck of the year and saw they got less money because of Obama.
Liberal paychecks reduced: Thank Obama. The look on their faces: Priceless.
So, guess where the liberals will be asking for more taxes next? When the new numbers to supposedly "fix it" are calculated, it won't be just "the rich" the next time. And that will be hysterical to watch unfold.
This is going to be such fun to watch the idiot liberals trip all over themselves making excuses as to why their utopia is total absolute f'ing sh!t. Before ya know it, they'll be blaming George Bush for Obamacare ;-D
I gotta get some popcorn....well before Obamacare starts mandating what I am and am not allowed to eat anyway.
Liberals really are stupid beyond belief. Idiots. F'ing anti American morons.
All of you talking about for profit health care are plain silly. It is a business. You do not go into business to loose money(doesn't have to sit well with you but its a fact deal with it). Doctors and nurses and staff do not work for free nor do the insurance agency's that negotiate a lower price for that procedure you need, or so that a co pay is manageable at 15-25 per visit instead of 125 plus or more like the doc in the box places charge.
We already had free clinics but our system has been overtaxed by people who actually should not qualify for any free health care. I am sorry if this hurts but if you do not live here, were not born here and come here for medical you should not be provided with it here. You are effectively taking that money away from the tax payer and just FYI a taxpayer isn't someone paying a local tax for a few items etc. A tax payer is someone who is a legal resident and has paid state and federal taxes on top of any other regulatory taxes on a year by year, day by day basis. Want to pay into our system for a year or more then start using benefits i'm ok with that, but we have people who have not and have taken advantage of it for to many years. The statistics for California alone are mind boggling and as a nation in 2012 netted somewhere int he region of 340billion dollars across at least a dozen or more federal agencies. This is why other countries immigration laws are enforced the way they are and we simply dropped the ball on the American citizen (what ever your race or creed is doesn't matter here, that you are a legal citizen does.)
Great how the posse quietly releases this info on a Friday afternoon, but a thank you for NBC to put it out here..I wonder if the three big media outlets will put this on their evening news Monday? Any bets?
So, if Obamacare does not cover un-insurables, what good is it? Still ER costs were people cannot be turned down.
It furthers his agenda for America, punish people that are successful and make more people dependent upon big government.
Anybody who names himself for a slave-rapist is all screwed up in the head anyway......
There is a difference between immigrants that come from Mexico and those that come from across the ocean. The Mexicans come and go between the two countries. They don't quite believe in the American way of life and they don't quite leave their other country behind. They go in between both countries - never quite belonging to one or the other.
Moogley will son find out how expensive his vote was!
Another failed program for the Obama Administration. How can they say they had a budget problem for this plan, when they don't believe in budgets ??? Get ready for an unbelieveable tax hike, as Obamacare will cost more than twice the amount we spend on our military !!! Way to go Liberals...
Reality: Oh please, Obamacare will reduce costs. That's what Obama said. And as we all know, anything Obama says is always true. Isn't it?
I always shake my head in amazment at liberals who actually believed that line. There is not one national program administered by the Federal Government that has EVER not ended up costing exponentially more than first projected, nor one that has EVER not grown far beyond it's original scope and intent.
But, since Obamacare will effect everyone in a manner far more direct than any run of the mill tax increase, you are going to see holy Hell break loose over the next couple of years as they try and get Obamacare to work. The good thing is that many congressional house liberals will be willing to walk the plank for it, and I have no problem with them doing that. The number who will be willing to do that in the Senate will depend on who is up for election the next cycle. The irony of it is, that those who will walk the plank, do it for a program that they saw fit to exempt themselves from. However, at least some of those will be people who didn't intend on running again anyway.
I now have health coverage through my employer; however, I took a lower paying job because I needed the benefits after being denied health coverage. I have not tried to get coverage again.
When you don't have a budget or basic financial knowledge you make massive fiscal mistakes. Obama seems to be a fool.
rober: I think saying "Obama seems to be a fool", is kinna like sayin' the Titanic seems to have taken on a little water.
People got what they voted for ...but the price is going up ever day....so pay and live with it or do without.
If there is going to be insurance reform that President seems to take credit for this should not happened. Main issue in insurance business is catastrophic condition that people get into. All other sicknesses probably insurance does not do anything, They take money, deduct for expenses, profit and spend rest on customers.
Health reform is only for two things:
(1) Catastrophic condition
(2) General lowering of cost burden on average citizens
That means reforming health delivery system to reduce the cost.
If not that let poor make no more babies if they cannot afford taking care of them, Let older people die after certain age if they cannot afford health care.
Beyond these three ways all others are playing with mirrors. It is playing game of a gamble who is trying to figure out how to beat a casino when casino operates on probability basis and cannot be beat except for extremely exceptional odd.
Pretty sad that third world developing nations have better health care than we do. I'm bailing, are you??
Are you? It's not as easy as it sounds. When I left the USA in 2002 I spent about 3 years moving to a new country every 90 days to stay legal (not become an illegal alien in any country). It cost me about $100,000. Just recently I found out I have to move again because my residence permit is not renewable... so I am living out of a bag again and will have to move to a new country every 90 days.
We have always had a small group of communist and socialist in the country. They used to have political parties and ran people for office. Now both groups have merged with the Democrat party. Note how many posts are against capitalism, how many use the same old Marxist rant against the rich and business. Many posters want a government take over of health care and increasingly more regulation of business, and restrictions by the political environmentalists. Even the slogans used by Democrats like "forward", "social justice", "income redistribution", "blame the rich and business", "antisemitism", government trickle down economy, and so on that come right out of Marx. The media has even become so radicalized that these statements are seen as "centrist". The media have even taken to calling conservatives radical. George Soros created and funds Media Matters just to attack one non-liberal source: Fox News. It is also that the liberal atheists attack religion but frequently resort to using religion to attack criticism. For those of you that want to see exactly Obama's political ideas and plans read Saul Alinskies book "Rules for Radicals". This small minority makes a lot of noise, gets attention (especially in the liberal media) and has been very successful over the years at infiltrating the government and getting bills passed. There is little hope in trying to argue with, convince, or use logic with those already converted to the socialist/communist ideas but those that can see clearly and logically can support those that do resist, communicate with their representatives, and look to the Constitution.
You can't even define the difference between socialism and communism, using it as many of you do as an interchangeable term: socialist/communist. However, I will give you brownie points for not including "marxist" along with the other two as your buddies often do.....
I'm sure he is an ardent fan of "Tailgunner Joe" McCarthy, listens to Rush and Glenn fervently every day, and gets up in the middle of the night looking for Commies under his bed, when he should be looking for them shagging his wife at the hot-sheet motel down the street.
Marx defined socialism as the transitional system to communism
Marx absolutely believed and taught that socialism was the transition to communism from Capitalism. Go to his 1844 “Critical Notes on the Article ‘The King of Prussia and Social Reform,’” his 1874 “Notes on Bakunin’s Book Statehood and Anarchy,” in “The Second Draft, Writings on the Paris Commune”, and of course his Critique of the Gotha Program .
Marx sees the Dictatorship of the Proletariat as the socialist transition to full communism. From Critique of the Gotha Programme
What do people expect when private companies are allowed to suck all the profit out of the system and then the tax payers are left to pick up the real costs for all the elderly, disabled, and poor that the private insurers won't (can't and still make a profit) cover. Then people wonder why health care is bankrupting this country.
personally, i think a lot of people are going to benefit from obamacare ---- for instance, if you are a relatively healthy person, you can opt to pay the fine instead of getting the insurance, and then if, at some future date, you do have health issues, you can simply sign up for the insurance, and you cannot even be denied because of the pre-existing condition.