Buying health insurance gets easier in Virginia
If you are a resident of Virginia, you are in a better position than many others in the country to purchase a health insurance. A big advantage of being a Virginian is that you are eligible for HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Being eligible for HIPPA gives you the right to buy individual health insurance policies and are exempted from pre-existing condition exclusion periods.
Another advantage of being a resident of Virginia is that private health insurance companies have to offer you choice of at least two choices. If not,
they must offer you all the available insurance products.
In Virginia, the coverage provided by a health insurance policy depends on the needs of the resident. It is not compulsory for health insurance companies in Virginia to sell standardized policies. This gives flexibility to the insurance companies and variety of options to the consumers.
And this is not all. The Affordability Act has the following in store for the residents of Virginia.
• With no more lifetime limits on insurance policy, 4.7 million residents of Virginia will not have to worry about the coverage running out and incurring heavy out-of-pocket expenses.
• The use of annual limits will be regulated. This will give provide relief to 4.3 million residents who have health insurance through their employers.
• 25,800 young adults in Virginia would be able to access affordable health care through the health insurance policies of their parents. They would be able to stay in the parents’ coverage till they turn 26.
• Approximately 82,100 Virginians who have retired early will now be funded through a $5 billion temporary early retiree reinsurance program. The program will stabilize health insurance coverage and ensure that the employers continue to provide insurance benefits to their early retirees.
• About 344,000 individuals in Virginia who have purchased their health insurance policies from dishonest insurance practices will be protected through the Act.
• Uninsured residents with pre-existing conditions in Virginia will have access to a federal funding of $113 million. This will be done through a high-risk pool program. This is a bridge to 2014 when all Americans have access to affordable coverage and no one will be denied health insurance on the basis of pre-existing condition.
The National Health Service Corps will be provided with $1.5 billion. This will help 9% of the Virginian people who live in underprivileged area. Funding will also be provided to the existing 146 Community Health Centres in Virginia.
Virginia, for the first time, will also have the option of the Federal Medicaid that will provide health insurance coverage to all low-income population despite their age, disability or the status of the family.
