Healthcare Reform: Missouri Cuts Health Insurance Premiums for Pre-Existing Condition Pool (PCIP)

If you live in Missouri, have a pre-existing condition and have not applied for Missouri’s new pre-existing condition health insurance plan (PCIP) because you believe that you cannot afford the health insurance premiums, we have good news for you.  Missouri has cut the health insurance premiums for its PCIP by 25% which should go a long ways to helping some state residents afford the health insurance pool. Although Missouri’s PCIP has received funding to help provide health insurance for 1,000 Missourians, enrollment has been disappointing with only 250 Missourians signing up so far. Critics have blamed eligibility requirements and high health insurance premiums for low PCIP enrollment nationwide.

The PCIPs are a temporary measure which will continue until 2014, when health insurance must be offered to all Americans regardless of pre-existing conditions. Currently, Americans with pre-existing conditions are often denied health insurance coverage or are only offered health insurance which is prohibitively expensive. The PCIPs are available to Americans who have been without health insurance for six months or more, and is designed to provide affordable health insurance benefits to those with pre-existing conditions. The PCIPs are limited to charging standard individual health insurance rates in the region, cap out-of-pocket expenses for members, and will provide immediate coverage for members’ pre-existing conditions instead of requiring a waiting period.

Missouri’s PCIP now offers three different plans with comprehensive coverage and varying deductibles. The new, lower health insurance premiums, range from $178 to $780 a month depending on age and deductible and take effect Feb. 1. Current members of Missouri’s PCIP will also benefit from the lower health insurance premiums.

Are you thinking of joining the Missouri PCIP? Tell us about it!

Related posts:

1. HHS To Cut Health Insurance Premiums for Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans
2. Enrollment Trickles Into the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans (PCIPs), Are the Health Insurance Premiums Too High?
3. California’s Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) Finally Opens!
4. Healthcare Reform: Just 1,200 Accepted For Interim High-Risk Health Insurance Pools (Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans) So Far
5. Healthcare Reform: Pre-existing Conditions and the Federal Health Insurance Pool