fbpx
Letter

Health Insurance at Risk

Do the candidates you support want to support your continued health care coverage?

By Stephanie Brancati

Many people switch health insurance companies, most commonly because of a new job. What if you apply for new health insurance and they say, “Yes, you can enroll in our insurance, but if you need treatment for anything that you already have, we won’t cover it. We’ll only cover new conditions. We won’t cover any pre-existing condition.”    

When the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, it ensured that you can’t be denied health care coverage because of pre-existing conditions. That provision is at risk. Despite its enormous popularity, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) recently said the Republicans’ goal is to obstruct President Joe Biden until they retake power, then make good on promises such as repealing the Affordable Care Act. Montana’s Sen. Steve Daines and Congressman Matt Rosendale support repealing the Affordable Care Act.

This is the worst possible time if that protection no longer exists. It could mean that if you have asthma, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, etc., your new insurance company wouldn’t cover treatment for them. In addition, there are now more people with pre-existing conditions. When the pandemic began two years ago, doctors predicted many who got COVID would have long lasting health problems from it due to kidney, heart, or lung damage from the infection. Two years down the road, that prediction has proved true. Millions Americans have long lasting complications from Covid. 

If pre-existing conditions are no longer covered, where will that put you if you change to a new health insurance plan and it isn’t required to cover health conditions you already have? Can you afford it? How we vote is vital. Do the candidates you support want to support your continued health care coverage?

Stephanie Brancati
Big Arm