Health and Disability

Prior to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), individuals with pre-existing conditions and chronic illnesses routinely faced discrimination in the individual market in the form of higher premiums or, even outright denials for coverage through a tactic known as medical underwriting. That meant that children with asthma or a woman in remission from breast cancer could be denied health insurance.  Thanks to the ACA, we now have limits on this industry practice which prohibit insurers from charging higher premiums or imposing coverage exclusions based on factors such as health status, use of health services, or gender. 

During our Consumer Voices for Coverage Annual Meeting in September, Community Catalyst facilitated a workshop on advocacy strategies to address discrimination in health plans.  In this blog we will focus on how stronger network adequacy standards can play a role in addressing discrimination concerns, and later in part 2 we will highlight how discrimination in health plans affects people living with HIV/AIDS, as one example.