Can adults get health insurance coverage under Obamacare despite having a pre-existing condition? - YES
General Reference (not clearly pro or con)
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Part I - Health Insurance Market Reforms, “Sec. 2704 Prohibition of Preexisting Condition Exclusions or Other Discrimination Based on Health Status,” page 36, signed into law on Mar. 23, 2010, available at www.thomas.gov:
"(a) IN GENERAL.—A group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage may not impose any preexisting condition exclusion with respect to such plan or coverage.”
Can adults get health insurance coverage under Obamacare despite having a pre-existing condition? - YES
PRO (yes)
CON (no)
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) stated in their Feb. 23, 2012 annual report “Covering People with Pre-existing Conditions: Report on the Implementation and Operation of the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan Program,” available at www.cciio.cms.gov:
"The law [PPACA] ends discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions. Insurers can no longer deny coverage to children because of a pre-existing condition and starting in 2014, refusing to cover anyone with a pre-existing condition is prohibited.”
Abby Matienzo, Communications Specialist at the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), wrote in a Mar. 23, 2012 press release "National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys Celebrates Two-Year Anniversary of Affordable Care Act," available at www.naela.org:
"Coverage despite pre-existing conditions: In 2014, health insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to beneficiaries due to a preexisting condition. Protections are already in place for certain individuals with pre-existing conditions, with the ACA's sponsorship of high-risk health insurance plans for individuals with pre-existing conditions. As of November 2011, 450,000 individuals were participating in these plans."
[Editor’s Note: Based upon a neutral reading of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and bi-partisan third party analysis, this question seems to have a clear and obvious Pro (yes) answer, and ProCon.org has therefore presented the responses in a single column with no opposing perspective.]
