Today, the Missouri Democratic Party released figures highlighting the number of consumers in Missouri with pre-existing conditions who, under the Affordable Care Act, will be protected from discrimination based on their health status.
For the first time, because of the health care law, insurance companies will be prohibited from denying health coverage for the up to 129 million Americans – including up to 2,602,000 in Missouri – with pre-existing conditions such as cancer, asthma, or diabetes. Insurance companies will also no longer be able to charge higher premiums based on health status or history. Since 2010, the Affordable Care Act has prohibited insurance companies from denying coverage to the up to 17 million children with pre-existing conditions – including up to 339,000 in Missouri. This protection is extended to adults beginning in January 2014.
“Because of the Affordable Care Act, for the first time insurance companies will be prohibited from denying health coverage for more than 2.6 million Missourians,” said Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Roy Temple. “Despite the popularity and importance of this protection, Republicans seem determined to repeal the Affordable Care Act that would allow health coverage to be denied based on pre-existing conditions and allow insurers to charge higher premiums just because you had asthma as a child or got strep throat last year.”
Helping middle class families and American small businesses take advantage of the benefits of the health care law like the security of affordable health care coverage and protection from discrimination based on pre-existing conditions should be a top priority for lawmakers in Washington. Yet instead of working to fix the law, a minority in Congress has voted to repeal the health care law more than 40 times, even shutting down the government to prevent new benefits like ending discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, taking away peace of mind for millions of Americans – including millions in Missouri.
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