Did you know that "preexisting illnesses" were never a part of the healthcare bill ? Never !!

Editor's notes: the events of this Washington Post story became necessary because the Obama/Pelosi rush to pass ObamaCare left out the provision allowing for coverage of preexisting illnesses ! They forgot to write this into the bill. That means that during all those occasions Obama was touting this feature, it was not in the bill. One would have thought from all the Obama blather, that this would have been one of the first things written into the bill. No ?!! Why was this not the case? Because "health care" was never the primary purpose of this bill. Understand that "preexisting" could have been ordered by Obama via insurance regulation. A 6 trillion dollar bill was not necessary. 118 new Federal agencies were not needed. 400,000 new government union scale employees were unnecessary. ObamaCare was all about the centralization of the federal government. 18 states have told the federal government to take a hike with regards to "preexisting," telling anyone who will listen that this late-date provision will simple cost the states too money. The other 29 states? They plainly do not care about increased debt ratio's. Those who live in these states will just have to wait until 2014 for coverage unless and until the feds come up with another stopgap idea. -- jds

By David S. Hilzenrath

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 4, 2010; 11:42 AM

Eighteen states have said they will not administer a stopgap program to provide insurance coverage to people whose preexisting conditions have left them uninsured, forcing the federal government to do the work. The states' decisions increase the challenge the government faces as it sets out to translate the far-reaching health-care legislation into action, and they hint at the complexities to come. At issue is a provision to extend temporary relief to people with preexisting medical conditions beginning this year, instead of making them wait until 2014, when insurers will be prohibited from turning people away or charging higher premiums based on health status. The health-care law sets aside $5 billion for the "high-risk pools."

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told state officials last month that she wanted to build on state programs, and she asked state governments to let her know by April 30 whether they would run the pools at the state level. As of Monday, 29 states plus the District of Columbia had said they would do so, and 18 said they would leave the job to HHS. Others were undecided. Some governors said they were unwilling to take on the task because it appears that Congress has allocated too little money.

Meanwhile, it was unclear how soon coverage will be available. The pools will be funded by July 1, but the earliest enrollment dates will vary, depending on such factors as whether states must first adopt new laws or regulations, said Jay Angoff, director of the HHS Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.