Recently, a Families USA report came out exploring what Health Reform will mean for Tennesseans with pre-existing conditions. The full report can be found here: http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/health-reform/pre-existing-conditions/tennessee.pdf.
Here are some of the most important facts we saw in the article:
• There are currently 1,275,000 Tennesseans under 65 years old with pre-existing conditions that could potentially exclude them from insurance coverage. That is ¼ of the non-elderly population.
• There are 115,000 children under 18, and 97,700 young adults aged 18-24, that have pre-existing conditions that could be used to deny coverage.
• These groups transcend all socioeconomic indicators. While individuals below the poverty line are the most likely to have a condition, 23.9% of the individuals making over 400% of the poverty level could be excluded.
Keep in mind that this study is only based on individuals who already have a diagnosis. As primary care becomes more readily available, more individuals will likely discover that they have chronic conditions that require treatments that would otherwise be excluded under traditional health insurance practices.
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