When you have a pre-existing condition, can not get health insurance through work, and are rejected individual health insurance in the free market due to a pre-existing condition or disability, you now have another option for reducing your health care expenses through the up and coming universal government sponsored health insurance.

Regardless of where you stand on the issue of whether or not the US government should be in the business of offering federal health insurance to people or not, or whether you like the new federal government healthcare bill or not, the fact is that, in 2010, the new healthcare bill has been igned into law, and the initial batch of federal funds have been provided for the purpose of the plan, as well as new taxes have been levied for that purpose.

Why not take advantage of inexpensive health insurance through the government!?

Example: Consider a disabled person who could not get health insurance through work, and could not get insurance through the individual market place. The only way previously for that person to get the medical care he or she needed would be to stop working and go on Medicaid, the state insurance.

Today, that same person can continue to work or run a business of his or her choice, and, despite the disability, or, pre-existing condition, can apply and receive the government sponsored health plan that provides help in getting medical services that the disabled person needs. The government medical insurance plan is called PCIP, Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan.

PCIP, the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan - conditions for acceptance

What are the conditions for a person with a disability or with a pre-existing condition to be successful in applying for the government sponsored health plan and get inexpensive government health care insurance?

The conditions to apply for federal health benefits are very simple and are getting simpler:

• The applicant must be a US citizen or permanent resident.


• The applicant must legally reside in the United States.


• They must have remained without health insurance coverage for the past six months.


• They must present a letter from an insurance company from within the past year of denial of coverage due to pre-existing condition. This condition is being replaced by a milder requirement where a letter from any health professional stating that you had a pre-existing condition will do, see below.

If you do not meet the criteria of being without any health insurance for six months, then you must wait. We will talk about how to get help with your health related expenses during this transition plan using an instant non-insurance plan.

Once you have met all of the above conditions, you can head on over to the government website PCIP.gov and apply. But it gets even better.

PCIP, the new, easier conditions for acceptance

Even more, as of May 31, 2011, the eligibility for individuals to apply and be accepted into the government funded health insurance plan have been reduced in all 23 states in which federal government is administering the PCIP plan: AL, AZ, DE, DC, FL, GA, Hi, ID, KY, LA, MN, MS, NE, NV, ND, SC, TN, TX, VT, VA, WV and WY. As of July 1, 2011, it will no longer be necessary in these states to show the insurance rejection letter.

Instead, a letter, dated within the past 12 months, from your health practitioner (which can be a doctor, physician assistant, or a nurse) stating that you have in the past had a "medical condition, illness, or disability." For more details on this check directly with the governmental site healthcare.gov.

In addition, the government funded health care insurance plan monthly premiums have been slashed by up to 40% for the PCIP plan. Even though the plan has already been competitively priced with the individual insurances, it is now becoming highly affordable. The prices went down by up to 40% in the following states: AL, AZ, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA, MN, MS, NE, NV, SC, TN, TX, VA, and WV.

These are among the 23 states where the federal government is directly managing the PCIP plan. The premiums might in the near future go down in other states as well. The other states not included in this list are managing the PCIP plan on their own using the federal funds, and were encouraged by the federal government to reduce their PCIP plan prices as well.

For example, the typical monthly premium in California for a government healthcare plan for a person 50 years of age could go from around $300/month down to well below $200/month, a tremendous annual savings.

How to take advantage and apply for the governmental plan right away

As you can see, the new health plan is experiencing significant changes. The government is literally throwing money to people with disabilities, pre-existing conditions, and illnesses, offering them plans that are undercutting the costs and the premiums that even people without pre-existing conditions can achieve in the private market place. Take advantage of the situation and get inexpensive access to care! Check the prices in your own state here: PCIP.gov.

A single drawback to the PCIP plan - the six months waiting period

As you have noticed, there is a single drawback to the PCIP plan. It only kicks in instantantly if you have not had any health insurance for the past 6 months. If you have been insured up until now, then you must now wait 6 months before your application for PCIP can be successful! But there is a way around this problem, below.

The workaround: What to do in the mean time while you are waiting for the next six months? We have a solution. Since you can not have an insurance plan for the next six months, check out a non-insurance health plan! We talk about these in the section describing non insurance health program choices for the interim period.