The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report comparing the early stages of the federal Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) with the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The federal PCIP was authorized by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and is intended to provide insurance for individuals with previously existing medical conditions who have been unable to obtain health insurance coverage for at least 6 months. GAO was tasked by the Senate with comparing early enrollment and implementation across both PCIP and CHIP. GAO found that like CHIP, enrollment in PCIP was slow in the beginning, but increased over time. GAO also found that enrollment in PCIP was generally lower in States that had high risk pools than in States that did not. For more information on pre-existing conditions, click here.

The Affordable Care Act appropriated $5 billion to create the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) program, which provides insurance for such individuals until new protections take effect in 2014. 27 states opted to run their own PCIPs, while 23 states and the District of Columbia opted to let the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) run the PCIPs for their residents. Through their study "Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans: Program Features, Early Enrollment and Spending Trends, and Federal Oversight Activities," the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined 1) PCIP features, premiums, and criteria for demonstrating a pre-existing condition, 2) trends in PCIP enrollment and spending, including administrative costs, and 3) federal oversight activities. The GAO found that state and federally run PCIPs generally had similar cost sharing arrangements. Coverage limits were common but varied, both in terms of the benefits affected and the extent of the limits. Monthly premiums ranged considerably and were generally higher in the federally run PCIP. Enrollment and spending for state and federally run PCIPs have been significantly lower than initial projections. Spending was also lower than anticipated.