Study: Ohioans with pre-existing conditions to benefit from health reform

By GRACE WYLER

gwyler@vindy.com

About 2.4 million Ohioans younger than 65 have been diagnosed with a pre-existing medical condition that could prevent them from obtaining health insurance, according to a report from Families USA, a consumer health-care advocacy group.

These Ohioans will gain significant protections when health-care-reform legislation goes into effect, Ron Pollack, Families USA executive director, said Wednesday in a conference call with reporters.

The recently passed federal legislation will prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage or charging “discriminatory” premiums to those with pre-existing conditions, Pollack said.

Pollack was joined in the conference call by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Avon, and U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, Charlie Wilson of St. Clairsville, D-6th, and Mary Jo Kilroy of Columbus, D-15th, all of whom agreed the report underscores Ohio’s need for health-care reform.

According to the report, 25 percent of Ohio’s non-elderly population — including nearly half of all Ohioans between age 55 and 64 — could be denied coverage in the individual health-insurance market because of a pre-existing condition.

The study also indicates that, although low-income Ohioans are slightly more likely to be affected, middle-class and higher-income residents make up 70.8 percent of those with pre-existing conditions.

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