{"id":15418,"date":"2016-08-09T06:04:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T06:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/in-38-states-churches-cant-help-people-pay-their-insurance-premiums-93125\/"},"modified":"2016-08-09T06:04:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-09T06:04:00","slug":"in-38-states-churches-cant-help-people-pay-their-insurance-premiums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/in-38-states-churches-cant-help-people-pay-their-insurance-premiums\/","title":{"rendered":"In 38 states, churches can’t help people pay their insurance premiums"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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Washington D.C., Aug 9, 2016 \/ 12:04 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- As churches and charities are legally shut out of helping pay people\u2019s high medical costs in most states, congressmen and advocates are rallying to \u201callow charities to be charitable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople with chronic, rare, and acute diseases have the right to get the help from third party organizations, and insurers have no sound reason to deny these payments,\u201d said Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.), a co-sponsor of the Access to Marketplace Insurance Act.<\/p>\n

The bill would lift bans on charitable medical payments for health plans on 38 state exchanges.<\/p>\n

The prohibition \u201cdiscriminates against some of our most vulnerable citizens, who have no other means of paying the high out-of-pocket costs,\u201d Hultgren continued, insisting that the government must \u201callow charities to be charitable.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the Affordable Care Act was passed, the law\u2019s supporters said it would stop insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. However, some say a new regulation has \u201ccreated the new \u2018pre-existing condition\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2014, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services ruled that on the health care law\u2019s exchanges, insurers didn\u2019t have to accept third-party payments of premiums by charitable non-profits; they only had to accept payments from certain \u201cstate and federal government premium programs,\u201d the Marketplace Access Project explained. The project advocates for charities to be allowed to help pay for premiums.<\/p>\n

38 states then disallowed the charitable payments for health plans on their exchanges. This can put a heavy burden on patients with chronic health conditions, though. The costs of some long-term medical treatments can add up to an exorbitant sum.<\/p>\n

\u201cCMS is functionally enabling insurers to exclude patients with expensive \u2013 yet devastating \u2013 conditions from their plans,\u201d the project stated.<\/p>\n

For instance, according to the National Hemophilia Foundation, someone suffering from severe hemophilia could incur up to $300,000 a year in treatment costs. Despite the health care law capping out-of-pocket medical expenses, some families still needed the help of charities and non-profits to pay their medical bills.<\/p>\n

Someone waiting for a kidney transplant \u2013 currently more than 100,000 Americans \u2013 will need expensive weekly treatments just to survive, according to the American Kidney Association.<\/p>\n

Unable to pay for a health plan they need, people might resort to skipping treatments, enrolling in Medicare or Medicaid, or using emergency rooms for health care, the Marketplace Action Project claims.<\/p>\n

So the bill, introduced by Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) last November, allows these charities and other third parties to continue making these payments. The list of 94 co-sponsors is bipartisan: more than 30 Democrats have co-sponsored the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe law already compels insurance companies to accept premium assistance from the Affordable Care Act, Indian Tribes, and State or federal programs,\u201d Cramer stated. \u201cIndividual Americans should also have the right to organize and do the same through their charity of choice. We need to allow charities to be charitable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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Washington D.C., Aug 9, 2016 \/ 12:04 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- As churches and charities are legally shut out of helping pay people’s high medical costs in most states, congressmen and advocates are rallying to “allow charities to be charitable….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nIn 38 states, churches can't help people pay their insurance premiums<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Aug 9, 2016 \/ 12:04 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- As churches and charities are legally shut out of helping pay people’s high medical costs in most states, congressmen and advocates are rallying to “allow charities to be charitable....\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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