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Kentuckians with Pre-Existing Conditions Will Have Access
to Quality, Affordable Health Coverage

Beginning July 1, 2010, Kentuckians who have been without health insurance for at least six months and who have been denied coverage because of pre-existing health conditions will be given access to affordable, quality coverage. The change is part of the new federal health reform law (The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010). The coverage will be available through a new Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A new federal website provides information about the complete range of health coverage options available for consumers by state. An application for the new PCIP coverage is available for download. The site is the first to provide consumers and small businesses with information about private insurance, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicare, and other coverage options in one place. Federal officials emphasize that the PCIP serves as a bridge to 2014, when the reform law bans denials of coverage based on pre-existing conditions.

Some 920,000 Kentuckians have a diagnosed pre-existing condition that could lead to a denial of coverage in the individual health insurance market, according to a recent report co-issued by Kentucky Voices for Health and Families USA, a national consumer health organization. View the report.