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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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If this program ran out of money wo quick wait until Obamacare kicks in and then you will see skyrocketing of cost. Remember the 50% that do not pay taxes well the rest of us will be stuck for another Democrats screw up. Those trillion dollar shortfalls by the government will now be 3 to 4 trillion a year.
Put your Sippy Cup down you've had to much Troll Aid.
No wonder Nancy Pelosi said that you have to pass the legislation before you can find out whats in it. This is what they wasted the first 2 years of Obama's administration on? This is Obama's crowning achievement? God help us.
That was the same Plan Romney was going to use and you would be disliking it or been Bragging about it. Your point is like you, moot.
This is one of many problems that I have with a President that I had voted for in the last election. In the massive healthcare bill that probably no one read, part of projected savings was to come from going from paper to electronic on records. Savings was suppose to be around 10%. Guess what? the exact opposite has happen. Seems that with an IPad, doctors are ordering more tests than if they had to write the order. So, now the most vulnerable are tossed under the bus.
The stench from the Obama bathroom still isn't as bad as that from the Romney and tea party bathroom.
This is a cue for *Progressives* to play a game of twisters in order to unquestioningly support the president. Klugman and Friedman will open their mouth while down on their knees. Of course, all these hypocrites have great insurance plans that the Progressives promises us. Between the Progressives and Right-wing wackos, America will suffer.
john,, if you could get your head out of obama's @!$%#, you would realize that the only stench you perceive is caused by where your head has been. I will not, I can not support the african. He is a crook, a thief and does not like America. This is all liberal, you can blame the tea party and you can blame Romney, but we both know that this is all obama and is band of liberal crooks.
Oh BS, the only problem with the computers is they are not being used properly as of yet. People only use them to produce more paperwork faster than they did with typewriters. Probably the only thing that creates paperwork faster than a computer is a printing press.
And this was discovered only after Obamacare was shoved down our throats? If they aren't being used by now, after four decades of PC's, when will they!
The problem is Obamacare was the promised free lunch, 30 million new patients, less doctors and nurses, and yet it will save money, and the low IQ liberals totally fell for it.
Medicare is 10x what it was promised to cost, Obamacare is already 2x and isn't even fully implemented yet. It is easy to see it will be at least 10x what was promised.
here's something to think about, .
State Farm used to advertise on TV they insurance 40 million americans for auto, home and life "insurance". If the average monthly insurance premium is $100.00 per month, [$600.00 semi-annually, or $1,200.00 per year], for that 40 million Americans, State Farm bring in $4,000,000,000.00 per month....
yep per month. That's a LOT of money. That's just State Farm.
Now think in terms of medical care insurance. There's 350 million people in America [and change]. The Affordable Healthcare Act is supposed to "insure" all of them. Some the government will subsidize premiums with vouchers [probably a lot more than they counted on], but if the average monthly premium for medical insurance is $180.00 per month [Blue Shield Individual Plan], you guys do the math on that.
If insurance profits are 4 or 5% of yearly gross, and 80% are supposed to go to direct medical care providers do the math.
We're not talking small numbers here that the medical care industry gets from Insurance companies. That's just private insurance. We're not even factoring in Medicare for the eldery or Medicaid which are paid for by taxpayers in taxes [not insurance premiums].
We are talking about enormous sums of money, that go to medical care providers, drug companies, hospitals, and so on, and it's not a regulated industry, not to mention insurance companies, and medical care is "still" "unaffordable".
I think it's time for plan Z on the medical care cost front. Regulate the industry so that medical care is "affordable" to most americans. Not insurance premiums, but actual costs of getting medical care from a hospital, a doctor, a medical practice of doctors, clinics and so on.
steve, your facts use information on life insurance and car insurance, death insurance and home insurance, it also includes hole life, isn't that the one they pay interest on? It's liberals like you that throw out bogus numbers and distort the facts to strength your views. If you can't figure out that this is going to cost the average person tons of money, you must be one of the free loaders that will get it for free.
As long as Law Enforcement keeps burning down homes there isn't going to be much left. You look at how much they take in but you don't show what they pay out. On an average day what do you think companies suffer from Car Accidents per day X days of the month. They pay out property and medical calims. Forgot to get the wrecks moved.
This is why Obamacare is NOT health care reform. It does nothing to fix the underlying costs and in fact bakes them in. Obama cut a deal with both big pharma and the insurance industry to keep them silent, that's why costs are still going up rather than down.
First time I've been accused of being a liberal.
My "numbers" reflect what one Insurance Company advertised on TV, as "Insuring" Americans. State Farm did run those TV advertisments and did say they "insured" 40 million Americans.
As an American, how much do you pay in "insurance premiums"? Auto, Home, Life, and Medical Insurance?
I just looked at Athem Blue Cross in California for their monthly medical insurance premium. Their Clear Protection Plus PPO for an individual costs $188.00 per month or about $2,200.00 per year. $3,000 deductable, $6,800 deductable for outpatient . If Athem Blue Cross insures 40 million Americans like State Farm, we're talking big money here.
and, whomever buys the individual insurance policy pays not only the monthly premium for insurance, but pays $3,0000 inpatient care annual deductable and also $3,000 out of pocket which is in addition to the deductable [the maximum] before insurance kicks in. Have to pay $6,800.00 [the maximum] outpatient before insurance kicks in. So add the insurance premium to the deductable, and an individual has to pay almost $6,000.00 in "deductables "first before insurance pays for inpatient care, and almost $9,600.00 for outpatient care, before insurance kicks in.
And this is affordable healthcare?
So everyone with medical insurance, if their smart, has the deductable and maximum out of pocket expenses "deductables" stashed away in an account somewhere, where the banks don't whittle it down with a bunch of fees, so if something should happen that requires medical care, it's not a financial catastrophic money loss, when the bills start rolling in, and take a huge chunk out of the household budget just to pay it off, and that's just for the deductable and maximum out of pocket. God forbid you get care that's not covered.
That's not affordable healthcare, and quess what, your required by law to buy insurance against unaffordable healthcare that even with insurance, it's not affordable.
Imagine if you water bill or electric bill, or trash was structured like this. Water, Electricity, trash, sewer are all public utilities and it's in societies best interest to have em. Why? Trash, sewage, breeds disease. Plague, from fleas, on rats wiped out 2/3rd of Western Europe. Rats like trash. Then there's Epidenic Typhus from Lice or from fleas. Imagine no water for showers? or clean water to drink. Electricity that's to expensive so no heat, no light.
Medical care is in societies best interest for the same reasons clean water, electricity, sewer and trash are in societies best interest that the majority of the population can afford these services.
Right now, medical care is not affordable to anyone. One must buy "insurance" to insure one's self against the unaffordability of medical care. How's that equate Affordable Healthcare?
The government should have called the law, Affordable Medical Insurance Premiums for Unaffordable Medical Care Act because that's all it is, and even then, it's not "affordable".
This isn't liberal thinking wanting affordable medical care. Medical care I can pay for, not some insurance policy I fork over more money than my car payment, every month, and then if I have to use the insurance, I've got to pay almost $6,000.00 before the insurance starts paying. That's got nothing to do with medical care. It's almost a diversion from what medical care costs. Insurance and medical care are not the same.
When you have such discrepancies you need to do something. I too believe this is a step in the right direction. I know too many people who have insurance and have to fight to have things paid. I know people that didn't pay a thing because they "didn't have the money", I know people who have catastrophic insurance which then makes them inelegible for paying cash for procedures. I think people need to know how much procedures cost, I do think that everyone should have some type of insurance. Ten years ago, I paid for family insurance through my company. Our deductible was 1,100 and a 100% coverage after of 6,000. One family member had cancer and everything was paid for and that was a lifesaver. If that happened today, our deductible is 2,400 with 100% after 8,400. I would also have to fight more for items and they would not pay as much as they used to. The pre existing condition was what saved these companies because they charged ridiculous prices now they cant shut you out for that reason. You have to have insurance to purchase any motor vehicle or house, you choose to have life insurance. There does need to be coverages of EVERY level and there needs to be education of prices. Nobody knows and it is sticker shock when you find out.
itiswhatitis
let's correct some of your misinformation
1. The govt only requires you to have liability insurance which protects other people from damage you may cause them. It has no personal benefit to you.
2. The govt DOESN'T require you to have homeowners insurance. That is a requirement of lenders to protect their asset as long as you owe them on their property that you are buying. It's not really yours until it's paid for.
NO ONE should be forced to participate in the so-called health care system in this country. There are millions like myself who want nothing to do with it. I've never had health insurance and never will and I'm 64. Nor will I participate in Medicare. The govt cannot make seniors purchase Medicare B, D or any other portion of Medicare.
Even the requirement for liability insurance to get a vehicle registered is not a federal law or regulation but a requirement put in place by state legislators. The federal government is extremely limited in what it can REQUIRE of individuals.
itis, so your deductable increased over the last 10 years, How about you wages? What about gas prices, electric prices, sales tax, property taxes, income taxes, god the list just goes on. If the gov can give everyone medical care, how about them doing something to help with everything else?
Dr. Benjamin Carson has an outstanding idea for healthcare...if you haven't already heard his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, you should...it's well worth the time to listen to it.
Never ceases to amaze me how other countries can have health care a light year better than anything American, but America can't do health care. What a nation of opinionated fools.
They don't. Routinely, people with painful conditions wait months for treatment as long as it isn't life-threatening. Difference is, Americans don't put up with waiting or not getting what they want. Or accepting that grandma's gotta die sometime.
Superjohnny, if these countries are England, Canada, Germany, etc. Why then do they come to America for major procedures. Why do they have months at least a year for major cancer treatment? You are pretty much a fool, for spouting off and not knowing what you are blabbering about!
Johnny,
If you really believe what you wrote, would suggest that the next time you need treatment or elective procedures, you jump on a plane and go over. Think you will then appreciate our system.
Super JA, my wife and I travel a lot. My wife had dental care in Switzerland and France. I had a broken tooth and had dental care in Poland and Czech Republic. My wife was hit by a car in Italy. We have had friends that had to have medical care in Europe. For basic health care the EU countries are just fine although the clinics and hospitals are primitive compared to ours. For difficult cases and specialized medicine the EU countries I have been to are sorely lacking in modern medical equipment and specialized doctors.
So far we have traveled to 52 countries and enjoy our visits very much. However our travel has also made us appreciate our whole culture and freedoms here in the US. There is no place like home.
Note that the single-payer, MUCH more efficient plans in other countries do NOT all involve "socialized medicine." Japan and Switzerland have NO government insurance at all and a higher percentage of private, for-profit providers than us. But there aren't thousands of different networks and insurance-provider collusion as in the USA because the main networks are overseen by a government board. So an MRI in the USA that costs $1200 costs $81 in Japan: the main reason a Japanese patient is TWICE as likely as an American to get an MRI. And in these countries private insurers spend 94% of premiums on actual healthcare compared to 80-85% in the USA, and that used to be 67-71% BEFORE Obamacare forced it up.
In the countries you mention and a few others the peopulance pay a high Income Tax. It's there for them and they know it and don't complain. All I see here is People saying I'm paying for this or that for somebody else. Many Americans are selfish Me! Me! Me! jerks and are to cheap spend a few dollars. I'm not ashamed of my country just a lot of the people.
So, since the PCIP program started, they've spend half of what they were allotted on 135,000 people. These are the folks who just "won't die soon enough". We spent around $18,000 each, just to keep them around for a while longer. I would guess that almost ALL of these people have at least SOME money. They can even afford the higher premiums. Sure, the insurance companies will not take these people without a government kickback. But, without this program, several of those 135K people would already be dead, saving us a billion or so!
Roadkill, you're born in the wrong generation and country. You sound like the Nazis during Hitlers time. There are retarded people so bad off that that must be in a facility with care people. They have done nothing to harm a sole and you think they should be put to death. You are so pathetic you don't even amount to a Troll.
Yet another demonstration of the incompetence of this administration. Well Libs and Progressives, you fell fell for the lies. .
You're right. I was for the public/single-payer option--just like Canada. But, no. We had to protect the insurance industry.
You should talk to a Canadian about their system, most can describe it in two words: wait & no.
This article is from 2006 but shows where they were heading.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/28/international/americas/28canada.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Canada has since made private practice legal. One of the people testifying for the government committee said he could get a hip replacement for his dog faster than for his grandmother.
"Wait and no" is where we need to go for the average guy. If you have money of your own, then by all means buy up.
It's just a matter of how you view healthcare. In the US it is still considered a commodity that you can buy if you can afford it. Most civilized countries now consider it a necessity of society, which everyone pays for through taxes and is available to everyone when they need it, like police and fire protection.
So Obama's healthcare plan is like every other one before it: primarily for those who don't really need it.
But you gotta appreciate the word "quietly." More transparency from the great bull@!$%#ter.
Obama's already got your vote so go smoke a rope...
Now did anyone of you left wingers really think Obama could add 30 million uninsured to the health care rolls & the cost not go up?? My wifes company cut everyone's hours to below 30 so they won't have to pay. I'll bet it's going on all over America. It's hurting our bottom line but You can bet Obama won't take the blame THE RIGHT WING DID IT !!! OF course. Just you wait we still have 4 more years with this Dumba$$. We will all be broke when he leaves office OBAMA SUCKS !!! I can't get past him selling us out to illegals for the wet back vote. Then he has the balls to say the people voted for him. yea RIGHT.How many where Illegal ??? Only in America can the top guys do sooo much harm & get no jail time. You can have as much freedom as you can afford in America today. If your broke TO BAD !!! just like Obamacare
Obamacare was supposed to fix our healthcare system. If you receive a medical bill you should send it to your democrat representative or senator who voted for Obamacare for payment.
Hey we are made of money. It's never going to run out. Never.
christopher, you are saying that the govt will clean up the health care in America? Are you nuts, tell me one plan that the govt runs that isn't losing money or totally mismanaged. Why wasn't everyone given the same rights to not be included, like the uaw? Again, it's all a game brought on by the liberals. Although, this should stop all the freeloaders going to the emergency room and tying up the doctors with hang nails , etc.
Wait till 2014 when many presently insured individuals loose their coverage and are in the insurance gap and can't get or can't afford insurance. In the end there will be more people without insurance. Unions & welfarers will be the only ones with insurance because all the others will not be able to afford insurance. Social security recipients medicare monthly premiums will double and they will not be able to afford Part "B" coverage they now have. Goverment subsidies are for working low income people. Starting 2014 you will not be able to keep your health insurance provider & doctors as promised. Just wait and see how all you progressives & lefties get screwed on your insurance by liars Pelosie & Obama, and the Democratic Party. Just remember, no "Republican" voted for this screw job. You will have no one to blame except Pelosie, Obama, and the Democratic Party. If you think healtcare is not affordable now, wait till 2014!
Ron,where in the hell do you get your information from. Come on be a man .expose your reliable source?
Tons of union have been granted exemptions from Obamacare. They won't have to deal with it.
Well, well. Another of Obama's promises bites the dust. What the heck - he got himself re-elected, so, no need to honor commitments made on the campaign trail, right? When will the sycophants see him for what he really is - a cheap Chicago politician who will say or do whatever is necessary to get what he wants. Now, he's going to go after the illegal alien vote - make them legal, put them on the government dole, and you get 11 million more Democrats! The money to pay for them isn't coming out of his pocket.
On a related topic - all this fuss about sequestration..... didn't Mr. Obama himself propose the idea? Good while campaigning, nor so good when time to enact it.
Keep drinking the Kool-Aid, Obama supporters. But don't cry when the money runs out. Obama will be retired by then.
The way our government and our insurance works. Give me the money and I will make sure the bill gets paid at a small added cost for doing it. But we have to hire more people to cover every ones bills so it will be a little more now. But if you try to pay it your self, they will run all over you, you don't know these people like we do. Well it seems everyone is still not getting what they need so it will take even more now.
The other end of it. It's the government man, everyone always gets more when the government is paying the bill. If you don't get it someone else will.
Insurance: It's those terrible insurance people they rip off everybody, you might as well get all you can from them.
I would love to see my money go into a medical club where they covered all medical cost from the office you visit. No jacking up the price and giving the Doctor or medical company a kick back for buying your stuff. It's their money already and they have to pay for everything with that. So jacked up prices will mean lose of business. If the patient don't like you your out of a job.
Unless we the American people get a handle on medical costs skyrocketing, we are all doomed either tax wise or health wise. Greed is rampant in healthcare but we just sit back and pay it like we have no power to fix it.
This criminal government has nothing right and good for this nation. maybe blind idiots think so,,Me myself and I welfare maggots and the drug dealer they pay monthly. Real working Americans are getting screwed again and this criminal government is walking away wealthy with their great health care and the only care they think about... THEY Don't care for stupid puppets on a string and DEM or Rep,, you are their stupid puppets, you are their money slaves and nothing more..
They should cut smokers, the obese, those with Type 2 Diabetes due to poor diet, those with HIV (barring rape and medical malpractice), and those with injuries due to reckless behavior from insurance. That should reduce costs a little bit.
Why is it that programs like these are never really publicized to the masses and are usually only affordable to people who don't really need it? The government should either butt out or be useful and since government and useful is an oxymoron it just needs to butt out.
scully====The majority of the American people told Obama and the Democrats to back off while they were still planning their Obama-Care Plan. They didn't listen to us then and they will most probably never listen to us because they think they are smarter. We have some 535 elected officials in Washington and what they think we need we get, whether or not we want any of their ideas to become law. Nwo we have another brand new entitlement plan that we can not pay for. Washington calls this advancement, I call it going deeper in debt.
Smokie452 you are correct . My only other question is with all we have seen & heard and all the stuff that has been shoved down our throats ,how did these idiots get re-elected ? Possibly the same way that Obama care is becoming enacted, our vote didn't matter in regards to Obama care maybe it didn't matter during the elections either. Wouldn't put it past them
DAMN.......I wish I can go to an auto insurance company and INSIST I get coverage AFTER an accident to fix my car.