Supreme Court Obamacare Ruling Helps Disabled
On June 28, 2012, Chief Justice John Roberts issued his majority ruling on President Obama’s healthcare reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, dubbed “Obamacare.” The ruling is a mixed bag of approvals and disapprovals, but one part of the act that was upheld affects physicians who suffer from a disability.
Starting in 2014, health insurance cannot be denied to anyone with preexisting health conditions, such as disabilities, and lifetime and annual limits on coverage will become a thing of the past. The preexisting conditions mandate already covers children, but it will encompass adults as of Jan. 1, 2014, except for those in grandfathered individual-market plans.
Allsup, a provider of Social Security disability, Medicare and Medicare Secondary Payer compliance services, says that one third of those with serious disabilities develop a gap in health coverage while awaiting Medicare eligibility. After 2014, that gap may be eliminated, but the price of health insurance could skyrocket. Even participation in a state insurance exchange might not alleviate the hefty price tag of medical care for the disabled. Participants in state insurance exchange precursors, known as PCIPs, will pay about $29,000 in medical costs this year, twice what was anticipated, according the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Adding to the expense ratio, starting in 2013, you won’t be able to itemize unreimbursed medical costs for a deduction on your tax returns unless those costs meet or exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income. That’s up from 7.5% currently.
Doctors disability insurance can help physicians who become disabled. Doctor disability insurance provides a source of income that can be applied to healthcare insurance premiums and other bills. Alternatively, it can be used for medical bills if a health insurance gap does occur. Disability income insurance has no restrictions on how the money is spent.
For a disability insurance quote or for more information on physicians disability insurance, visit https://www.doctordisability.com/.