Bad medicine

Dear editor:

When it comes to pre-existing health conditions, there's no such thing as the "good ol' days." We can't afford to go back in time. Before the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010, insurers could charge sick people impossibly high rates.

If you had cancer or diabetes or even a Caesarean section, insurance companies labeled it a pre-existing condition and slapped you with a whopping insurance premium. Rates were so high that many people I knew had to go without health insurance. They just couldn't afford it.

Well, here we go again. The American Health Care Act (AHCA) that narrowly passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month gives the upper hand back to insurers. This is especially punishing for people age 50-64, who often have chronic conditions.

Nationally, 40 percent of Americans age 50 to 64 have a pre-existing condition. The Natural State would be hit especially hard -- 52 percent of Arkansans ages 50 to 64 have a pre-existing condition. That means over 280,000 of our fellow Arkansans could be denied coverage or be priced out of being able to afford coverage.

Many of those Arkansans who will be affected are hardworking sole proprietors and employees of very small businesses. I know a number of them in the Hot Springs and surrounding area. They will be among those hardest hit when they can't afford or are denied coverage for pre-existing conditions.

The U.S. Senate plans to work on this bad bill in the coming weeks. The pre-existing conditions part should be the first section to get thrown out.

Warren Searls

Hot Springs Village

Editorial on 05/25/2017

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