The context “pre-existing conditions” is most commonly used in the USA used to be for underwriting health insurance, but since 2010, the Affordable Care Act pro

The context “pre-existing conditions” is most commonly used in the USA used to be for underwriting health insurance, but since 2010, the Affordable Care Act prohibits health insurance businesses from using pre existing conditions to underwrite health insurance: https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage/pre-existing-conditions/ https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage/pre-existing-conditions/ Everyone is eligible to purchase health insurance, and pricing can only be based on 1) age (loosely, old people are heavily subsidized by young because highest premium is capped at 3x lowest premium) 2) tobacco use (tobacco users didn’t have the political power to prevent this habit from being an underwriting factor, as opposed to alcohol and sugar and excess carbohydrate users) 3) location https://www.healthcare.gov/how-plans-set-your-premiums/ https://www.healthcare.gov/how-plans-set-your-premiums/ Hence, health insurance premiums in the US are more akin to a tax than insurance.