Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan
In March of 2010, Congress passed and President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act—the new health insurance law. The law creates a new program – the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan — to make health insurance available to you if you have been denied coverage by private insurance companies because of a pre-existing condition.
The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP), which is administered by either your state or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides a health coverage option if you have been without health coverage for at least six months, you have a pre-existing condition or have been denied health coverage because of your health condition, and are a U.S. citizen or reside here legally.
This program may be able to help you, if you’ve been locked out of the insurance market, until 2014. In 2014, you will have access to affordable health insurance choices through a new competitive marketplace called an Exchange and you will no longer be discriminated against based on a pre-existing condition.
The Program:
- Covers a broad range of health benefits, including primary and specialty care, hospital care, and prescription drugs.
- All covered benefits are available to you, even to treat a pre-existing condition.
- Doesn’t charge you a higher premium just because of your medical condition.
- Doesn’t base eligibility on income.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with the help of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Finance Center, runs Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan in 23 states and the District of Columbia. The federal government contracts with a national insurance plan to administer benefits in those states. In the other 27 states, there are state-based programs. The program may vary depending on what state you live in. Check out the State Plans page to learn more about how the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan works in your state
via Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan | Florida Spinal Cord Injury Resource Center.
Described as “one of the most exciting ways to make a difference in Marion County”, 
Marketing for the event consisted of creating and mailing flyers to agencies with consumers that could benefit from the emergency preparedness workshop, kits and plans, as well as contacting local media for public service announcements and community calendar posts.
directions, questions, crowd control, setting up for lunch, monitoring tables, distributing the emergency preparedness kits, and breaking everything down when the event was complete. During the event, participants with disabilities were encouraged to fill out a personal information sheet, detailing their disability, in order to receive an emergency preparedness kit. Green canvas duffle bags with zippered compartments were provided and filled with a variety of emergency supplies that included: an emergency Mylar blanket, PVC “Easy Tear” duct tape, 2” x 10 yards, 33 piece first aid kit, flashlight with 2 D cells, 9 piece multi tool knife, leather work gloves with a safety cuff, 2 piece light stick set, rain poncho, 6 water packets, USCG approved, signaling whistle, handy pouch kit with toothpaste, toothbrush, comb, soap, shave gel, razor, tissue and shampoo, and a radio/siren combo.
Two local TV stations attended the event and a staff member worked with them to set up the requested interviews with two participants/consumers, a member of our panel and our Executive Director. Our event was featured on both TV 20 and GTN that evening during the 10pm local news. Overall, it was a very successful event with over 200 people in attendance! The CIL staff was happy and satisfied to have served so many individuals with disabilities in our local community.
