ROCKEFELLER INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO PROTECT PATIENT ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE COVERAGE
Washington, DC - Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) today introduced the "Pre-existing Condition Exclusion Patient Protection Act of 2007," legislation which would close gaps that currently allow health insurance companies and employers to deny coverage to millions of individuals for the conditions for which they need that coverage the most.
"This legislation is critical for the nearly 600,000 West Virginians who will likely suffer from chronic, disabling, and life-threatening conditions in their lifetime," said Rockefeller. "Because of gaps in the law, many of these patients are currently denied - or at serious risk of being denied - access to affordable, comprehensive, and meaningful health insurance coverage."
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention estimates that 1/3 of all Americans will have a chronic, disabling, and life-threatening condition at some point - that means approximately 600,000 West Virginians. According to Senator Rockefeller, "Far too often, these are the very people who find their health insurance coverage interrupted, cancelled, or denied because of pre-existing condition limitations in their health insurance coverage."
For more than a decade, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA, P.L. 104-191) has provided important protections to individuals and families when they change health plans due to job-related or other transitions. HIPAA was designed to help guarantee the availability and renewal of health insurance coverage by restricting the circumstances under which pre-existing condition limitations can be applied to private insurance beneficiaries.
Even with these protections, a number of significant gaps remain in the law that hamper individuals with pre-existing conditions from getting access to care. Senator Rockefeller's legislation would close these gaps. It accomplishes this by making it more difficult for health insurers and employers to deny or limit coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
Senator Rockefeller has long been one of the leading voices in the nation advocating for universal health insurance coverage and improving access to health insurance for the underserved and uninsured. He argues that expanding West Virginians' access to health coverage will require, among other things, reforming HIPAA to prevent chronic disease sufferers from falling through the cracks in the health care system.
"West Virginians who suffer from chronic conditions have enough challenges to overcome," said Rockefeller. "Being denied health coverage by an insurance company or employer because of a pre-existing condition shouldn't be one of them."
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