I wrote a couple diaries some time ago about a) becoming uninsured and how I obtained affordable heath care in my community; and b) my initial attempts at getting "Obamacare." In California, I had two options for getting health coverage for people who have been denied health insurance by for-profit health insurers due to pre-existing conditions.
More below the fold.
I now have health coverage via the California Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, or PCIP for short. It is a federally-funded program. Per the website for PCIP (http://www.pcip.ca.gov/...):
"As a result of the federal Affordable Care Act of 2010, California has a contract with the federal Department of Health and Human Services to establish a federally-funded high risk pool program to provide health coverage for eligible individuals. The program will last until December 31, 2013 when the national health reform is set to begin. After that date, there will no longer be a need for high risk pools because federal rules will not allow insurers to reject persons with pre-existing conditions or charge them higher rates than those without such conditions."
PCIP offers health coverage to medically-uninsurable individuals who live in California. The program is available for individuals who have not had health coverage in the last 6 months. The California PCIP is run by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board (MRMIB).
My monthly rate, at age 50, is $329. My last monthly premium when I still had Kaiser coverage (at age 46) was approaching $600, and that was through a group program. I am happy with the monthly rate. My co-pay for doctor visits is $25. There is no annual or lifetime cap for medical coverage. However, as noted above, the program will end in two years' time, and supposedly I'll be able to get health insurance for the same premiums as everyone else. (I don't really believe that.)
In my area, there aren't many doctors on PCIP's approved list of providers. I have chosen to obtain my routine medical and dental care from providers who are not included in this plan, which means I pay directly for those services out of my own pocket. I mainly use the plan as major medical insurance policy, should anything serious happen to me. All of my local hospitals accept PCIP coverage. The local urgent care clinic also accepts it.
While this plan severely limits choice in medical care providers, I would say that it's certainly better than nothing.
Of note, California also offers a Major Risk Medical Insurance program (http://www.mrmib.ca.gov/). The program is funded by tobacco tax funds. People applying through this program can choose either Anthem or Kaiser coverage. As of 2012, the monthly rate for Kaiser coverage in my area for someone aged 50-54 is $639.58. There appears to be no way to reduce this monthly rate (such as choosing a higher annual deductible, higher co-pay amount, etc.) There is a three-month waiting period after you obtain coverage before you can receive any health care benefits. (There was no waiting period when I obtain PCIP coverage.) There is an annual maximum benefit cap of $75,000 per year, and a lifetime cap of $750,000.
Wed Jan 18, 2012 at 9:05 AM PT: I mistakenly thought that PCIP included dental coverage. I was getting two programs confused. My son has health and dental through California's Healthy Families program, and I enrolled him at the same time as I was processing my application for PCIP. PCIP does not include dental coverage. However, I haven't had dental insurance in more than ten years, so I'm used to paying as I go for dental care and my dentist accepts payments without charging interest.