The The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as Passed is a transparent little document comprising a mere 2409 pages in pdf format, and Senate Democrats have made it conveniently available online.
One of the flagship provisions of this historic bill (“historic” meaning that this bill has already been discussed as much as the Magna Carta) will make it impossible for anyone to be denied health insurance on the basis of pre-existing conditions.
Health insurance for all of us, even if we’re actually sick! That’s the name of the game, but it isn’t exactly the name of the bill, and although coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions has remained at the top of Democratic talking-points for 14 long months, I was surprised to see that the word “pre-existing” only appears 5 times in 2409 pages of legislative language, mostly in Sec. 1101 of Subtitle B, and…
Here it is! That awfully famous “section” in all it’s glory, along with a few typographical peculiarities which arise from pasting pdf into html.
Subtitle B-Immediate Actions to
2 Preserve and Expand Coverage
3 SEC. 1101. IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO INSURANCE FOR UNIN4
SURED INDIVIDUALS WITH A PREEXISTING
5 CONDITION.
6 (a) IN GENERAL.-Not later than 90 days after the
7 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish
8 a temporary high risk health insurance pool program to
9 provide health insurance coverage for eligible individuals
10 during the period beginning on the date on which such pro11
gram is established and ending on January 1, 2014.