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Home > BizTimes Daily > Archives > July 14, 2010
State launches health insurance pool for people with pre-existing conditions
Published July 14, 2010 - BizTimes Daily
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A new state health insurance pool to provide coverage for about 8,000 Wisconsin residents with pre-existing conditions will take begin Aug. 1.
Gov. Jim Doyle today announced the creation Wisconsin’s Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan (HIRSP), which will begin taking applications Thursday, July 15.
“Denying access to health insurance to the people who might need it the most simply does not make any sense,” Governor Doyle said. “This new benefit will provide relief to thousands of Wisconsinites who have struggled to find affordable health insurance.”
The Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Barack Obama established a program for states to establish high-risk pools to serve adults with pre-existing medical conditions who have been uninsured for at least six months.
The Wisconsin HIRSP will provide a bridge for those with pre-existing conditions until 2014, when such exclusions will become illegal and individuals will be able to buy coverage through health insurance exchanges.
The new HIRSP option is a statewide program that will provide health care coverage to people that have been denied insurance due to a pre-existing condition. The program is funded though individual premiums and a federal financial subsidy.
Wisconsin expects to receive $73 million out of $5 billion allocated nationwide over three years.
People who may be eligible are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible because applications will be processed on a first-come, first-serve basis until the subsidy runs out.
Wisconsin has developed its program and negotiated rates with providers so that the state will be able to cover more people, dollar for dollar, than many other states, Doyle said.
Doyle created the Office of Health Care Reform to be led by the secretary of the Department of Health Services and the Commissioner of Insurance. Doyle directed the office to develop a plan that uses national health care reform to build on Wisconsin’s efforts and existing programs.
For general information about HIRSP and the new HIRSP Federal Plan visit www.hirsp.org or call HIRSP Customer Service at 1-888-253-2698. For more information on the benefits of national health care reform and Wisconsin’s implementation efforts, visit: www.healthcarereform.wisconsin.gov.
