July 1, 2010: Today the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced the establishment of the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) to be offered through the temporary federal high risk pool. The plan will be administered either by states or by DHHS and will provide health coverage for individuals who have been uninsured at least six months, have been unable to get health insurance because of a health condition, and who are U.S. citizens or residing in the United States legally.
The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan is a transitional program that will run until 2014 when state-run insurance exchanges will become active. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) allotted $5 billion in federal funding for support of PCIPs in every state.
Link to the DHHS news release announcing the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP)
To keep consumers informed about new programs and details by state, the Department of Health and Human Services has launched a new consumer website to facilitate the dissemination of information about the law, www.HealthCare.gov. The site, which launched June 30th, is designed to guide consumers towards information about health insurance, prevention, hospital quality and the PPACA itself. Individuals looking for PCIP application instructions can obtain more information specific to their state at http://www.pcip.gov/.
SHADAC has published an issue brief entitled, "Issues for State High-Risk Pools with Implementation of National Health Reform," which includes information about states which currently have high risk pools and the initial funding allocation to states for subsidizing coverage through the temporary high-risk pool.