Here's how Cory Gardner's bill would and wouldn't protect people with preexisting conditions
Think of health policymaking like those old-timey variety show videos of people spinning a bunch of plates at once. Theres just a ton going on, and focusing only on one thing will cause the rest of the apparatus to come crashing down.
This, in a tortured-metaphor kind of way, explains why health policy experts say that Colorado U.S. Sen. Cory Gardners Pre-Existing Conditions Protection Act of 2020 wouldnt entirely do what its title promises. While the bill does provide some protections for people with preexisting conditions, it doesnt contain many other provisions that supporters of the current law say are needed to keep the rest of the health insurance policy apparatus from cracking apart like so much fallen china. On top of that, the bill doesnt contain any of the usual features of legislation that are needed for implementation.
Gardners bill
Gardners bill is Senate Bill 4506. Its substance is contained within a single sentence that states:
A group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage may not impose any pre-existing condition exclusion with respect to such plan or coverage, factor health status into premiums or charges, exclude benefits relating to pre-existing conditions from coverage, or otherwise exclude benefits, set limits, or increase charges based on any pre-existing condition or health status.
In comparison, the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare), was more than 900 pages long.
Read more:
https://coloradosun.com/2020/09/02/cory-gardner-preexisting-conditions-obamacare/