Way #8: Insurance Protections
When we get sick, we expect our insurance to be there for us. That’s why we buy insurance. However, before the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Wisconsinites could find themselves without care when they needed it the most. These insurance protections lift a great burden off of families, who can now be confident that they will be able to get the care they need, when they need it. Important ACA insurance protections already at work include:
No Rescissions: Before the ACA, if you or your employer made a mistake on your health insurance application, insurance companies could “rescind” your coverage from the day it began, and you could be on the hook for medical care paid out during that time. Because of the ACA, after September 2010 all plans had to stop that practice. You will no longer lose coverage for an honest mistake.No Lifetime Limits: New and renewed plans after September 2010 are not subject to lifetime limits on coverage. Before the health care reform law, plans could put a lifetime limit on your coverage, for the entire time you’re on that plan. Once you hit that amount, you would be responsible for all additional medical costs. It’s not until we’re really sick and have high medical bills that we realize the importance of this provision. But when we need it, we really need it! Over 2.1 million Wisconsinites are already benefiting from this provision.
Phasing Out Annual Limits: By 2014 insurance plans will no longer be able to place annual limits on coverage. Until then, plans have been required to phase out annual limits, with a $2 million minimum limit from now until 2014. Families with premature babies in particular find this protection invaluable. Time in neonatal intensive care can quickly cause costs to exceed insurance policy limits. The ACA takes away this added concern.
These insurance protections ensure that our coverage is there when we need it – and they’re already making a difference.
Sara Eskrich
——————–
As we wait anxiously for the Supreme Court to issue their decision on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), we know that children and families in Wisconsin are already benefiting from the law. It is important to recognize these ways in which the ACA is already making an impact and what could be lost if the Court strikes down the whole law. This is one in a series of blog posts highlighting what we think are the top ten ways children and families in Wisconsin are already benefiting from the health care reform law.
