State Rep. Dom Costa has announced that starting Wednesday, Aug. 4, Pennsylvania's Fair Care program will begin taking applications from people with pre-existing conditions who have been unable to obtain health coverage on the private market."The Fair Care program is designed to help our most needy citizens – those with pre-existing medical conditions who can't get health-care coverage," said Costa, D-Allegheny.
The Fair Care program is administered through the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance and will go into effect in September.
To qualify for the coverage, individuals must be:
- Citizens of the
- Uninsured for at least six months before applying.
- Unable to get health insurance due to a pre-existing condition.
The state will receive $160 million from the federal government to set up the program, which will provide coverage to as many as 5,600 people between now and 2014.
Subsidized premiums will be $283 per month, and the plan's benefit package includes:
- Preventive care;
- Physician services;
- Diagnostic testing;
- Hospitalization;
- Mental health services;
- Prescription medications.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the new federal health-care reform law, calls for the creation of a Fair Care Program to make health coverage available to people who have been denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Detailed information is available on the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance website, www.insurance.pa.gov.
