Medicare Bridge in New Health Law

The sweeping federal health care law making its major public debut next month was meant for people like Juanita Stonebraker, 63, from Oakland, Md., who retired from her job in a hospital billing office a year and a half ago.

She was able to continue her health insurance coverage from the hospital for a time, but when she tried to find an individual policy on her own, none of the insurers she contacted would cover her because she was diabetic.

“I didn’t even get to tell them about the heart attack,” said Stonebraker, who has been without health insurance since July. She is a little over a year away from qualifying for Medicare, the federal insurance program for people 65 and older. She now worries a recent hospitalization will leave her several thousand dollars in debt.

Under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, insurers must now offer coverage to people like Stonebraker, and they will not be able to set the premiums they charge on the basis of someone’s health.

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Source: HT News