About 80,400 Washtenaw County residents with pre-existing conditions could gain coverage under Affordable Care Act

Families USA, a non-profit, non-partisan consumer health group, issued a report Tuesday, July 24, that detailed the number of Michigan residents that will now be eligible for health insurance as a result of the 2010 act.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld the Constitutionality of the act in June after it was challenged.

Pre-existing conditions are medical conditions a person has before applying for health insurance that can be as common as heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer and asthma. Adults with pre-existing conditions can be denied healthcare by insurance companies -- a practice that will change after Jan. 1, 2014.

About 26.4% of Washtenaw County residents have pre-existing conditions, according to the report.

The Affordable Care Act, which is implemented in phases from 2010 to 2014, means those individuals can no longer be denied coverage, charged a higher premium, or sold a policy that excludes coverage of important health services.

More than half of individuals in Michigan age 55 to 64 years old have a pre-existing condition, according to the report.

Read the entirety of the report here: Michigan Pre-Existing Condition Population.pdf