WASHINGTON - "Elective abortions will be prohibited and people with pre-existing conditions will be able to get comprehensive benefits without paying any more than healthy people under new federal regulations for high-risk health insurance pools."
"The state-based pools provision is one of the high-profile features of the new health law taking effect this year. It allocates $5 billion to create plans to cover people who have been uninsured for at least six months and have a pre-existing health condition."
"The 108-page rule detailing how the new plans will work won praise from consumer advocates for helping to make insurance more affordable and from Republicans, who oppose any coverage of abortion except in cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother...."
"....The benefits in the new plans would be similar to those given to members of Congress and other federal government workers, the regulations said. Covered benefits include hospitalization, outpatient care, maternity care and home health care."
"This new coverage will help all of us by reducing medical debt, improving health and worker productivity and reducing the amount of uncompensated care provided to the uninsured, potentially by billions of dollars," Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office Of Health Reform, wrote Thursday in a blog post. Expenses not covered by the premiums, deductibles and co-payments will be covered by the $5 billion from the federal government."
"The pools will be in place until 2014, when health insurance companies will no longer be allowed to deny coverage or charge higher rates because of pre-existing illnesses. Consumer advocates worry that the $5 billion could run out long before then. But the health plans could cap enrollment or change premiums and benefits to help manage costs, which may be necessary to stretch the federal funding."
"The new risk pools will also not require waiting periods before pre-existing conditions can be treated; currently many states have such waiting periods. About 30 states have opted to set up their own high-risk insurance pools using the federal money that is allocated based on States population, health care costs and number of uninsured residents."
