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Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner
Click to go to Health Care Reform section homepage.

 

 

Health reforms already in place:

  • Preventive medical care with no deductibles or other cost sharing.
  • No waiting periods for children with medical conditions.
  • No more lifetime caps on benefits.
  • Young adults up to age 26 can stay on their parents' health plans.

Whether or not you have these benefits depends on when you or your employer enrolled in your plan.

Click on the boxes below to see how it works:

Do you buy your own health insurance?


Beginning Jan. 1, 2011, your individual plan cannot:

  • Charge out-of-pocket costs for preventive services.*
  • Cap lifetime benefits. (Caps of $1 million or $2 million are now common).*
  • Cancel or rescind a policy, except in the case of fraud.
  • Refuse to cover a child's pre-existing condition.*
  • And young adults may be covered on their parents' plan until the age of 26, unless they get a job with health insurance.


* If you enrolled in your individual plan before March 23, 2010, your plan is grandfathered and isn't required to include these benefits.

 
Do you get health insurance from your employer?

After Sept. 23, 2010, when your plan renews it cannot:

  • Charge out-of-pocket costs for preventive services.*
  • Cap Lifetime benefits. (Caps of $1 million or $2 million are now common).
  • Cancel or rescind a policy, except in the case of fraud or misrepresentation.
  • Refuse to cover a child's pre-existing conditions.
  • And young adults may be covered on their parents' plan until the age of 26, unless they get a job with health insurance.


* If your employer enrolled in its plan before March 23, 2010, your plan is grandfathered and isn't required to include these benefits

 

Find insurance options

An interactive tool to help you find health coverage in your area.

Get help using insurance

Who to call for help, what to do if you're rejected by a plan, and help appealing a denial.

The health reform law & you

How health reform affects you and what happens when.

Comparing care providers

See if your provider has joined the Partnership for Patients program and compare physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and dialysis facilities.

Prevention and wellness

See a list of covered preventive service, including women's services.

General timeline of health reform

What's changing when.

 

 

 

 

 





Updated 04/09/2012

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Need more help? Call our FREE Insurance Consumer Hotline at 1-800-562-6900
or Email us at cap@oic.wa.gov.