Author ORCID Identifier
Document Type
Other
Publication Date
2018
College/Unit
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department/Program/Center
Political Science
Abstract
West Virginians disproportionately suffer from higher rates of illness, disease and disability. As a result, West Virginians also have some of the nation’s highest rates of pre-existing conditions. These are health conditions which were diagnosed or treated by a provider prior to the purchase of insurance. They are also those conditions undiagnosed by a physician for which a “prudent” person would have sought care.
Until the Affordable Care Act (ACA) established a series of consumer protections,1 individuals affected by pre-existing conditions were generally unable to purchase insurance on their own. However, recently these protections have come under threat by Congressional and legal action.
This brief seeks to assess how West Virginians would be affected if these efforts are successful by providing estimates for the number of West Virginians affected by pre-existing conditions. Overall, it finds that 720,000 non-elderly West Virginians suffer from pre-existing conditions that would make it hard if not impossible to obtain health insurance subject to medical underwriting.
Digital Commons Citation
Haeder, Simon F., "Pre-existing Conditions in West Virginia" (2018). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 812.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/812
Included in
Health Policy Commons, Public Affairs Commons, Public Policy Commons, Social Welfare Commons