FW: Rules on diabetes health care coverage changing tomorrow

[Guest guest]

Hi. I don't know if you all are a member of diabetes.org but I got this and

thought some of you may be interested. Please let me know if forwarding

things to this list is not prohibited so I won't do this again in future.

Thanks.

NEW: Rules on diabetes health care coverage changing tomorrow

ADA Action Center News Alert

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http://advocacy.diabetes.org/site/R?i=bbVglrkljJGJJwcG3Vo_FQ..

Dear ,

Six months ago, historic health care reform legislation that will make

our insurance system fairer for people with diabetes was signed into

law. The Affordable Care Act includes many new tools in the fight to

stop diabetes - and a number of them go into effect tomorrow.

Starting tomorrow, you will no longer need to fear your insurance

company will drop you just when you need help the most. And when your

new policy year begins, your children up to age 26 are welcome to stay on

your plan.

The American Diabetes Association has been weighing in at every turn

on how the new rules can best meet the health care needs of people

with diabetes and pre-diabetes, and we will continue to do so. Once

fully in place, these sweeping changes will put an end to

discrimination against people with diabetes in the insurance market.

And we take a big leap down that road to fairness tomorrow.

Here are some of the changes taking effect as of September 23 (Please

note some of these will impact you when your insurance plan's year

begins):

* No Pre-existing Condition Exclusions for Children: Insurers are

prohibited from rejecting children under age 19 because of their

diabetes.

* No Dropping the Sick: Insurers are prohibited from rescinding

policies to avoid paying medical bills when a person is

diagnosed with diabetes or has a complication related to

diabetes.

* No Lifetime Limits on Benefits: Lifetime caps on benefit

coverage are prohibited, and there are new restrictions on annual

limits as well.

* Young Adults Can Stay on Their Parents' Plans Until Age 26.

* Right to Appeal: New protections provide consumers with a way to

appeal coverage decisions to their insurance company and to an

external review process.

In addition, earlier this summer, new high risk pools were established

for people who could not get insurance because of conditions like

diabetes, and seniors began receiving a $250 rebate for medications

they previously had to pay for on their own. For more information

about what you can expect from the new law and a timeline of when

changes take effect, see the September issue of Diabetes ForecastR:

http://advocacy.diabetes.org/site/R?i=vWjOP4OTGqMBUI62BWJNHg..

Additional information from the Department of Health and Human Services is

available here:

http://advocacy.diabetes.org/site/R?i=nco6-gellEsJlX9sVErz3w..

Throughout the health care reform debate, the American Diabetes

Association fought hard to ensure reform benefited the nearly 24

million people with diabetes and the 57 million with pre-diabetes.

Together, we'll continue to work to make sure people with diabetes get

the care they need to survive - and to thrive.

Thank you for all you've done and continue to do to stop diabetes

through advocacy.

Sincerely,

Nash Childs, PE

Chair of the Board

American Diabetes Association

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