Don't Fall For Obama's Claims That Pre-Existing Medical Conditions Were Uninsurable Before ObamaCare: Most States Already Had Health Insurance For Pre-Existing Medical Conditions: Over 200,000 Were Enrolled Prior To ObamaCare: Others States Limited Denials For Pre-Existing Conditions

Prior to ObamaCare, from 1976 until the passage of ObamaCare, 35 states responded to the need for health insurance for individuals with pre-existing medical conditions by setting up high risk health insurance pools. Other states, like NY, enacted laws or regulations which severely limited the ability of insurers to deny health insurance coverage for pre-existing medical conditions.

From The National Conference Of State Legislatures (NCSL), "Coverage Of Uninsurable Pre-Existing Conditions: State And Federal High-Risk Pools":

In response to the problems of uninsurable individuals, 35 states set up high-risk health insurance pools over a 25 year span, from 1976 to 2009. Across these 35 states, the national enrollment was 221,879 by December 31, 2010. This compared to 200,047 as of December 2007. This is about 1.8 percent of the individual market enrollment, but is up to 25 percent of the individual market documented to be subject to denials or "adverse underwriting" restrictions due to pre-existing medical conditions.

In other states, insurers could not deny payment for a pre-existing conditions if the individual had had health insurance coverage with another medical provider health insurer in the past. For example, in NY, the law allowed for up to a 12 month waiting period for NEW health insurance before a pre-existing condition was covered, but the 12 months was reduced by the amount of previous health insurance the individual had had.

From New York State's (pre-ObamaCare) Health Insurance Resource Center:

Question What is a pre-existing condition and can it be excluded from my health coverage?

Answer A pre-existing condition is any condition for which a person received treatment or treatment was recommended within the preceding six months. Any individual enrolling in a new health plan covered by NYS law may be subject to up to a 12 month waiting period (six months for Medicare Supplement policy holders) before expenses related to the pre-existing condition are covered. However, the plan must subtract from the waiting period the time that the person had continuous coverage in a previous plan. Continuous coverage means that the person had less than a sixty three day gap between coverages. The insurer shall count a period of creditable coverage for all benefits or may elect to credit coverage based on Categories of Benefits specified in the policy or certificate.