Medical costs for enrollees in health reform's high-risk insurance pools are expected to exceed initial predictions by more than double, according to a Washington Post report.
The healthcare reform law allocated $5 billion for a Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, which was intended to provide health insurance to people who had been declined coverage by commercial insurance companies due to pre-existing conditions. Nearly 50,000 people have enrolled since the program's launch last summer.
The PCIP program will end in 2014, when insurers will be required to accept all applicants regardless of the presence of pre-existing conditions.
According to the report, the government may have underestimated the medical costs of those enrolled in the program. Analysts expected the program would cost $13,026 per enrollee, but new data is suggested each participant could average $28,994 in medical costs in 2012.
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The healthcare reform law allocated $5 billion for a Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, which was intended to provide health insurance to people who had been declined coverage by commercial insurance companies due to pre-existing conditions. Nearly 50,000 people have enrolled since the program's launch last summer.
The PCIP program will end in 2014, when insurers will be required to accept all applicants regardless of the presence of pre-existing conditions.
According to the report, the government may have underestimated the medical costs of those enrolled in the program. Analysts expected the program would cost $13,026 per enrollee, but new data is suggested each participant could average $28,994 in medical costs in 2012.
Related Articles on Coding, Billing and Collections:
New Jersey Proposes Substantial Changes to PIP Regulations
Nebraska Begins Debate Over State-Designed Health Insurance Exchange
Two-Thirds of Colorado Physicians Reject or Limit Medicare Patients