Guaranteed issue

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Guaranteed issue is a term used in health insurance to describe a situation where a policy is offered to any eligible applicant without regard to health status. Often this is the result of guaranteed issue statutes regarding how health insurance may be sold, or to provide a means for people with pre-existing conditions the ability to obtain health insurance of some kind.

In the United States, all health policies sold in the small group market (generally employers of 2 to 50 employees) must be sold on a guaranteed issue basis. Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), all new policies in the individual health insurance market will be guaranteed issue by 2014.[1]

Prior to the ACA, a handful of states required insurers to sell all coverage on this basis in the individual health insurance market.[2] In addition, the "creditable coverage" provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 are often considered to be a federal guaranteed issue regulation[3] which some states fulfilled using a high-risk pool program.

References

  1. ↑ "2014 Insurance Reforms under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)". Blue Cross Blue Shield. Retrieved April 1, 2012. 
  2. ↑ http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/08/reginsure/report.shtml
  3. ↑ http://disabilityrightslegalcenter.org/sites/disabilityrightslegalcenter.org/files/about/documents/HIPAAOptionsByState2011.pdf

See also

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