Healthcare Reform: Study Finds 129 Million Americans Have Pre-Existing Health Conditions

According to a recent study released by the Department of Health and Human Services, as many as 129 million Americans under the age of 65 have health problems that may affect their ability to obtain health insurance or require them to pay higher insurance premiums.  The study was released just as the House of Representatives prepared to review a bill proposed by Republicans to repeal the healthcare reform legislation implemented by President Barack Obama. 

The study exemplifies the amount of people who would not be guaranteed health insurance without the Affordable Care Act due to pre-existing condition(s).   U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius expressed her concern that as many as 129 million non-elderly Americans have at least one medical condition that would put them in this category. 

The Affordable Care Act, to be enacted by 2014, would provide healthcare to all Americans, free of pre-existing health condition discrimination.   The focal pre-existing illnesses in the study, all of which can be cause for denial or limitation of health coverage, include heart disease, cancer, asthma, high blood pressure, and arthritis.  As many as 82 million Americans who receive healthcare benefits through their employer have one of the pre-existing health conditions.

Lack of affordable healthcare is a serious flaw in the American government system.  Healthcare insurance premiums have doubled in the last 8 years, rising 3.7 times faster than wages in the past 8 years.  High deductibles and copays prevent consumers from receiving necessary care. Fortunately for all Americans healthcare reform is already at our fingertips.

A new program from Free For All, Inc. provides a free healthcare discount card that offers up to 75 percent discounts on the retail price of prescriptions and up to 50 percent on labs and imaging. The RxCut® Plus card is accepted at over 54,000 pharmacies across the United States and Puerto Rico including Wal-Mart, Target, CVS, Walgreens and more.  The free RxCut® Plus healthcare discount card is available to everyone and does not require enrollment or activation of any kind – simple print out your free card here.

This program is a great solution for the over 50 million U.S. citizens that do not have healthcare insurance, as well as the over 210 million Americans who receive drug benefits through their employer and pay a copay for a generic drug that is higher than the retail price.   For example, the free healthcare discount card provides a lower price than a $10 or more insurance copay on 21 of the 25 more frequently used generic drugs.

For more information or to print out your free healthcare discount card click here.