Not necessarily. What about young people with pre-existing conditions who can no longer stay on their parents' policies? Young people like this have done nothing wrong or irresponsible but will have a difficult time getting medical insurance in their own name because of their chronic conditions.
Bull, think juvenile diabetic who cannot get covered.
Think birth defects
Think genetic illness
BS.
I know plenty of people with legitimate conditions that had to change coverage as they aged out of their parents coverage, or they got married and are now covered under their spouses plan, or got new jobs, had to move, whatever.
There are many legitimate reasons to continue coverage for someone with a pre-existant condition.
Not everyone is a dead beat who is too lazy to sign up for insurance until they need it.
So if you want to penalize people with health issues like diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease, etc, are you going to offer to help them pay for the care you don't want them to have?
I agree and the replies to you are inane whining.
In some cases, that's true.
But, also there are people who...
(1) are laid-off from work and cannot afford COBRA;
(2) cannot find full-time work with benefits;
(3) haven't qualified for benefits yet during 90-day probationary job period;
(4) are insured under spouse's coverage but then divorce;
(5) … and many other reasons.
All that said, requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions does drive up the cost.
IF the GOP ever plans to get rid of the pre-existing conditions requirement, they need to talk about other options.
BEFORE the pre-existing conditions requirement, there were a few options for patients who didn't qualify for gov't help:
(1) Charity Care - The hospital or doctor would work out a lower cost with the patient. (The providers might be able to deduct the cost from their taxes.)
(2) Charities - Some organizations provided lower-cost care (ex. some pro-life organizations directed to low-cost options for pregnant women).
ClearCase guy wrote: "I support catastrophic coverage."
So do I. But insurance companies won't sell it to people over a certain age. We're stuck buying the whole package. Why doesn't the GOP talk about that?
Well, no. It's people who have a medical condition and who, because of job change or some other reason, have to give up their current coverage and find another. That is by far the most common reason.