COVID causes pre-existing conditions
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Editor,
Many people switch health insurance companies every so often, most commonly because of a new job.
In July 2020, the Valley Journal published a letter to the editor that I wrote. It began, “COVID-19 will cause pre-existing conditions. As research is gathered about COVID-19 pandemic, a sobering finding is that many people who get the disease will have health problems long after they have recovered from the infection. Many will have kidney damage, heart tissue damage, or lung damage. COVID-19 can be much more than a two-week illness. A few years from now, those problems will be ‘pre-existing conditions.’ Think about what this means for your health and your health insurance.”
Two years down the road, that prediction has proved true; an estimated 7-23 million Americans have long lasting complication from COVID. And of course, many people have other conditions unrelated to COVID, like asthma, diabetes, migraines, cancer, high blood pressure, etc.
This is the worst possible time if pre-existing conditions are no longer covered. It means a health insurance company can say, “Yes, you can enroll in our insurance, but if you need treatment for anything that you already have, we won’t cover it. We’ll only cover new conditions.”
How we vote is vital. Some candidates would like to alter current policy and no longer require insurers to cover pre-existing conditions. When the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, it ensured that you can’t be denied health care coverage because of pre-existing conditions. That provision is at risk. Despite its enormous popularity, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) recently said the Republicans’ goal is to obstruct Biden until they retake power then make good on promises such as repealing the Affordable Care Act. Montana’s Senator Steve Daines and Congressman Matt Rosendale support repealing the Affordable Care Act.
If pre-existing conditions are no longer covered, where will that put you if you change to a new health insurance plan? Can you afford it?
Stephanie Brancati
Big Arm
