The state announced today that it is now taking applications for an insurance plan for people who can’t get insurance because they have been sick. Tom Alger of the Iowa Insurance Division, says the plan is an outgrowth of the new federal healthcare reform.
Alger says it allows people who have had an existing condition that prevents them from getting health insurance, and have been uninsured for six months, to get insurance without any penalty. Alger says they don’t know how many Iowans might be eligible for the plan. He says it will probably be limited by the definitions of being uninsured for six months, having a pre-existing condition, and being required to be a lawful citizen of the U-S.
The plan offers a policy with a $1,000 deductible and the price range from from 177-dollars a month to around 739 dollars a month. “It is a big range,” Alger says,”and the reason for that is it is going to take people from essentially the teenage years, up to age 64. And of course there’s a huge difference in the risk of a person who is very young versus a person somebody who is in his or her 60s.”
He says the lower range is a teen non-smoker and the high range is an older smoker. The program is called the HIPIowa-FED and you can find out more on-line at: www.iid.state.ia.us, or by calling toll-free at 877-505-0513.