 Image: whoohoo120 under CC 3.0 |
The intention of the healthcare reform law is to increase access to insurance. It largely attempts to do so via stringent regulations. However, most of those regulations will not become effective until 2014.
The gap is a serious issue. Between now and then, health insurers will still be able to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is asking for their cooperation to help remedy this dilemma.
Doing so will probably be quite difficult, since the Obama administration has taken a largely adversarial role against providers of health insurance plans in the past. According to Sebelius, their goal is to stabilize the private sector by promoting the elements that could increase their sales (e.g. tax credits for small businesses).
