Log In | Register
Under the new rules:
Health coverage cannot be arbitrarily canceled when people becomes sick just because they made unintentional mistakes on their paperwork.
Insurers will be prohibited from rescinding coverage except in cases involving fraud or intentional misrepresentation of facts.
Children can no longer be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. This protection applies to all health plans except "grandfathered" plans in the individual market. These protections will be extended to adults starting in 2014.
Health plans can no longer put a lifetime limit on health coverage. More than 100 million Americans now have coverage with such limits.
Annual limits on coverage will be phased out over three years. Annual limits are less common than lifetime limits -- but 19 percent of individual market plans and 14 percent of small employer plans currently use them. For plan years beginning on September 23, the minimum level for the annual limit will be set at $750,000. This minimum will be raised to $1.25 million in a year and $2 million in two years. In 2014, all annual limits are prohibited.
