subject: Obamacare Faces Pre-existing Condition Debate [print this page] Anyone who has been denied insurance coverage because of a pre-existing condition knows just how devastating and frightening the experience can be. In many cases, patients are left with the issue of how to pay for care for their condition, in addition to affording other household expenses.
This issue is precisely the platform that Obamacare was based upon. No longer would people with pre-existing conditions be denied coverage, and no longer would Americans be faced with skyrocketing insurance premiums. While the ideas behind the plan are good, the outcome may not be as fabulous as promised.
One of the main reasons so many people want to repeal Obamacare is because the claim that millions of Americans have been locked out of obtaining adequate health insurance may not be exactly as grim as first described. In fact, since the program has been implemented, only about eight thousand people have taken advantage of coverage options for "high risk" patients.
Since the government is resistant to admit that the President's figures about the number of uninsured or underinsured patients may be wrong, they have now modified the program a bit to cut premiums by an additional twenty percent, and expand benefit options for the program into 2011, in order to encourage more enrollments.
Obamacare set out to solve a serious matter of the pre-existing condition problem, in a system that has not been reformed. Because the system remains broken, proper results cannot be seen. In order to effectively achieve results, the new health care system must be set up to lower costs of care for everyone, not simply move the costs from one category (the underprivileged) to another category (all taxpayers). As important as it is to treat the symptoms of a condition, you cannot truly see results without first treating the underlying cause of the condition. The healthcare system is no different.