Goodbye to Lifetime Limits

Starting next month, insurance companies are no longer allowed to impose lifetime dollar limits on essential benefits. What this means is that there is no longer a cap on how much an insurance company will pay for a person’s entire lifetime. Note though that under the Affordable Care Act this only applies to health plans that begin on or after September 23,2010. So if its time for you to renew your plan soon check to make sure the lifetime limits on insurance coverage is no longer there.

Just to ensure there is not confusion, note that the lifetime limit on insurance coverage is different from the annual limit. Insurance companies can still impose an annual limit, although the Affordable Care Act also seeks to regulate those limits. However, this is still good news, especially for people who get sick quite often and are nearing their lifetime limit. It just feels good not to have to compute how many more times you can afford to get sick in your lifetime, doesn’t it?