Pre-existing condition plan sees enrollment gains

National enrollment in a pre-existing condition health plan created by last year's healthcare reform law has increased by 50% in the past three months to more than 12,000 Americans, HHS said Thursday.

The Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan, or PCIP, is a plan for uninsured Americans with pre-existing conditions who previously had been unable to obtain affordable health insurance coverage. The program is a temporary one that HHS says serves as a bridge for those with pre-existing conditions who cannot obtain coverage until 2014, when all Americans will have access to coverage either through employers or state insurance exchanges and insurers will not be allowed to deny coverage to people based on their health status.

“This program has helped thousands of people that desperately need coverage and we are excited to see Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan enrollment is ramping up, in much of the way enrollment in the Children's Health Insurance Program did in the 1990s, as more people learn about the new insurance options available,” Steve Larsen, director of the Center of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, which administers the program, said in a news release.

To build awareness of the plan, HHS is working with the Social Security Administration on an outreach campaign and will provide information about the plan in about 3.2 million Social Security disability insurance application receipts distributed annually. HHS is also working with states, consumer groups, chronic disease organizations, healthcare providers, social workers, other federal agencies and the insurance industry to highlight the plan, and has created resources to promote it, including a Website detailing the plan's eligibility and benefits.