When I began working in the deaf community in 1977, many deaf people complained that car insurance comapnies charged them more. Why? Simply because they were deaf. The car companies assumed that deaf people were worse drivers than hearing people because they (the deaf) could not hear. Eventually, deaf people started to collect information and, guess what? They proved that hearing drivers had just as many accidents as deaf drivers. In some states, hearing drivers had MORE accidents than deaf drivers. Yet, it took many years for deaf drivers to pay the same rate for car insurance as hearing drivers.

For many years, people who were deaf could not buy health insurance. Why? Because they were deaf! The health insurance companies refused to insure deaf people because the insureres believed that deafness was a sickness, that deaf people were more likely to be sick than hearing people, that deaf people had more diseases than hearing people.(There is NO proof that any of those claims are true.) In the same way, these health insurance companies would not insure people with MS, diabetes, lupus, some forms of arthritis, and on and on and on. The insurance companies said that they would not insure people with "pre-existent conditoons", meaning any form of illness or disability. Why? Because the insurance companies argued that having a "pre-existing condition" meant you would get sick more often, need doctor's care or hospitalizations more often, and would make you a bigger health "risk."
When the Congress finally passed, and President Obama signed into law, the Health Care Reform Act of 2010, part of the law stated that insurance companies may NOT deny insurance to people who have disabilities, are deaf, or have a "pre-existing condition". However, receently, some people in Congress and some states have tried to get rid of this part of the law. Why? Because many people in the insurance business do not like the law.(We are blessed to have some people in the insurance business in Illinois, like Ms. Suzette deSalvo, who actually WANT deaf customers!) However, there is a big risk that politicians will continue to try to get rid of the law that protects people who are deaf and/or disabled. One organization that is fighting to keep the Health Care Law safe is the National Organization for Rare Disorders (www.rarediseases.org).
What makes this whole situation crazy is that people who are disabled, who have "pre-existing conditions" often work very hard to protect their health. They cannot get insurance. Yet, there are many people who drink too much alcohol, eat too much food (obese!), do not take care of their health who can easily sign-up for insurance because they do not have a "pre-existing condition." However, their behavior costs insurance companies (and us!) lots of money because of their unhealthy life-styles. Many people with "pre-existing conditions" make better, and healthier, insurance customers than so-called "healthy" people who are very careless with their bodies.
It is VERY important for all of us to fight to keep the part of the Health Care Reform law that allows people with "pre-existing conditions" to purchase health insurance, just like any citizen of this country.