742,000 CT residents with pre-existing conditions’ access to coverage will be protected under ACA

New estimates from Families USA finds that 742,000 non-elderly CT residents have been diagnosed with serious conditions often linked to individual coverage denials. Beginning in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act, no Connecticut resident can be denied coverage, charged a higher premium, or sold a policy that excludes coverage of important health services simply because of a pre-existing condition. The rates of pre-existing conditions in CT vary little by county, but adults ages 55 to 64 are 2.5 times more likely than younger adults ages 18 to 24. More than half of CT residents with pre-existing conditions have incomes over 400% of the federal poverty level and over three quarters are white.