I hope you found yesterday’s post helpful.  Before getting to today’s health reform tip, I just want to point out that there have been some great articles over the past several days discussing the health reform provisions that went into effect on September 23.  No matter what your personal feelings are about the new law, I hope you’ll agree that it’s in every consumer’s interest to understand what health reform really means.

Now, yesterday we talked about the health reform provision allowing free coverage for specific preventive care services, and what that change may mean for consumers.  Today let’s look at the provision removing caps on lifetime coverage for plan members and see what it might mean for you:

NO LIFETIME DOLLAR LIMITS ON COVERAGE – Health insurance companies are no longer able to place a cap on the dollar amounts paid out for services deemed “essential” by the Department of Health and Human Services within the lifetime of a policyholder or member.

• DO consider re-enrolling in your former health plan if you lost coverage due to exceeding your lifetime dollar limits (for expensive treatment of heart disease, cancer, or serious injury, for example).  If you are otherwise still eligible for the plan, the health insurance company is required to allow you to re-enroll.  This change applies to all major medical health insurance plans, even Grandfathered plans in effect prior to March 23, 2010.
• DON’T assume that all dollar limits are hereby abolished. Insurance companies can still place annual dollar limits on specific types of benefits until annual limits are also phased out for most plans beginning in 2014.  Also, do not assume that all services will be automatically covered.  Maternity benefits, for example, may still be excluded by some plans.

Read Part 3 of 5 here.