Dr. Oz Navigates America's Changing Health-Care System

Benefits Beyond Preventive Coverage

If you and your family already have a solid health insurance plan with good preventive coverage you may be wondering if this law will positively impact any of your health care options.  Here are some new rules that cover benefits you could find yourself in need of.

• If you have a child under age 19 with a pre-existing condition such as asthma, health plans can no longer limit or deny benefits or coverage.
• Previously if you had a college-age child, they’d be required to come off your health plan immediately after graduation. The Affordable Health Care Act allows your child to stay on your insurance plan until they turn 26 years old. This new rule is designed to provide financial relief to the many parents who end up footing their college graduate’s insurance bill since first jobs often don’t include health insurance.
• Annual limits on coverage such as intensive care hospital stays are now eliminated.

Affordable Coverage for Adults with Pre-existing Health Conditions

As of July 1, 2010, people denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition can enroll in the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) available through state plans. This program runs through 2014, when the federal program will take over, banning insurers from refusing to cover adults with pre-existing conditions and offering them affordable coverage choices.

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