Advocate Group for Patients with Pre-Existing Conditions Wants New Legislation

The National Patient Advocate Foundation said on Thursday that it has proposed legislation before Congress to radically change the way pre-existing conditions are handled by health insurance companies and included in health insurance policies.

The NPAF is a non-profit organization that seeks to improve U.S. citizens' access to health care and medical treatment by appealing to state and federal lawmakers.

Democrat Representatives Joe Courtney of Connecticut and Allyson Schwartz of Pennsylvania have put new legislation before the House in response to increased outcry from Americans who have health insurance but are denied their claims because of medical conditions that they had prior to having their policies placed. The outcry is strongest from Americans who have chronic ailments.

Additionally, Republican Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming, ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, agrees with the NPAF-sponsored concept of more strictly limiting allowances given to health insurers for pre-existing conditions under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Insurance companies know from actuarial statistics that people are far and away more likely to seek insurance coverage after they are already ailing, a phenomenon known as "adverse selection". Many insurers would lose huge amounts of money and even be put out of business if adverse selection were to run wild.

Because of adverse selection, insurance companies take action to discourage people from waiting until they have a medical problem before they buy health insurance. This is the motive behind imposing pre-existing condition exclusion periods in newly placed policies.