July 21--People with a pre-existing medical condition who have had trouble getting health insurance, or have insurance and want to compare plans and costs may do so online at www.pcip.gov.

"I heard about someone who had an insurance premium of $1,200 a month due to a pre-existing condition and went through this website and found insurance for $300 a month," said Patsy Bratcher, the Aging and Disability Resource Center Coordinator.

The website is a government site and not sponsored by any insurance company, neither is it selling nor promoting any insurance plan or company. It is for information and comparison purposes only.

"The site is consumer-focused and very user-friendly," Bratcher said. "It presents plans with the best options.

"The least-expensive one is listed first, but that one also had

the highest deductible. But sometimes you do what you've got to do."

The Affordable Care Act, the new health insurance law, created a new program called the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) to make health insurance available to those who have been denied coverage by private insurance companies because of a?pre-existing condition.

The PCIP, which is administered by the state or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides a health coverage option if a person has been without health coverage for at least six months, has a pre-existing condition or has been denied health coverage because of a health condition, and is a U.S. citizen or resides in this country legally.

The website asks for a person's basic information such as state, zip code, gender, name, address, birthday and whether there is a pre-existing condition.

"It shows the kind of insurance plan it is, the deductible and what the monthly premium is.

"If you want the lower deductible because of the way your health condition is, you might pay the higher premium, but at least you'll still have insurance."

For more information, call 1-866-717-5826, or contact the local Social Security office at 1-866-836-5834.

Rich Suwanski, 691-7315, or rsuwanski@messenger-inquirer.com

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