Just a note for those who may not know, either because they've grown up under a different regulatory regime or they never shopped for private insurance before the ACA:
Pre-ACA, I was once a much healthier early-twenty something applying for private coverage. I have a genetic condition that has never manifested in a health consequence that has required treatment, and technically it was illegal even at the time to reject someone based on their genetic information. Despite that, I was denied coverage by every private insurer in the market because I had a preexisting condition. The only reason the private market functions at all for anyone with so much as a history of a sprained ankle is because of the ACA.
Insurance companies would routinely (and retroactively!) deny coverage and payment based on preexisting conditions. They would accept premium payments for years, then when you came down with breast cancer would dig up an old photo of you with a cigarette in your mouth and refuse to pay for your treatment because you claimed to be a non-smoker when you applied for coverage. This was considered normal.
Pre-ACA, I was once a much healthier early-twenty something applying for private coverage. I have a genetic condition that has never manifested in a health consequence that has required treatment, and technically it was illegal even at the time to reject someone based on their genetic information. Despite that, I was denied coverage by every private insurer in the market because I had a preexisting condition. The only reason the private market functions at all for anyone with so much as a history of a sprained ankle is because of the ACA.
Insurance companies would routinely (and retroactively!) deny coverage and payment based on preexisting conditions. They would accept premium payments for years, then when you came down with breast cancer would dig up an old photo of you with a cigarette in your mouth and refuse to pay for your treatment because you claimed to be a non-smoker when you applied for coverage. This was considered normal.