Kathy RobertsonSenior Staff Writer
For The Sacramento Business Journal reports:
A subsidized state health insurance program for individuals with preexisting conditions has lowered premiums an average of 18 percent, effective immediately.
That means a 40-year-old Sacramento resident with heart disease will pay $289 per month instead of $332. A 60-year-old with a preexisting health condition will pay $530 instead of $620; younger forks, ages 19 to 29, $118 instead of $138.
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There are currently a total of only 168 individuals in the Sacramento region enrolled in the program. This includes eight in Yolo County, 14 in El Dorado, 30 in Placer and 116 in Sacramento County.
Authorized by the Affordable Care Act, the Pre-existing Health Insurance Program is designed to serve individuals who have been denied coverage or offered options they could not afford. The program is considered a bridge to 2014, when federal health reform will prohibit insurance companies from denying insurance to adults with preexisting conditions — or charging them more for coverage.
Premium reductions range from 8.2 percent to 24.3 percent, depending on subscriber age and geographic region. Rates for individuals in Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties are a few dollars higher per month than Sacramento rates.
The premium cut will be reflected in billing statements starting Oct. 1, but there will be rate adjustments retroactive to Aug. 1, according to Janette Casillas, executive director of the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board that runs the program in California.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2011/08/02/calif-subsidized-pre-existing-insurance.html?ed=2011-08-02&s=article_du&ana=e_du_pub