Health plans are finding loopholes in the Affordable Care Act and excluding some of the neediest patients, consumer groups say.
By Kimberly Leonard
A recent, highly publicized editorial is claiming that some insurance companies are not making cheaper alternatives to certain prescriptions available, causing some of the sickest – and therefore most expensive – patients in the system to either take on pricier health plans or go shopping elsewhere.
[DATA MINE: Obamacare Insurance Plans May Have a Loophole for Pre-existing Conditions]
Obamacare was designed to abolish health insurance practices that excluded people with diagnoses such as cancer, HIV or hepatitis, as well as other pre-existing conditions. Taking advantage of loopholes is not illegal, but could undermine some of what was supposed to be the key triumphs of the law passed in 2010. “If [non-discrimination] provisions aren’t enforced then they really aren’t very useful,” says Abbi Coursolle, a staff attorney at the National Health Law Program. “Moves like this could exclude people who need care the most.” Read the full article here. »
