Between 36 million and 122 million adults under age 65 in the United States have a pre-existing health condition and as many as 17 million do not have
health insurance, according to the Government
Accountability Office. The estimates vary widely because
of the type and number of ailments used to define pre-existing conditions in each of five estimates. In the lowest estimate, adults reported whether they had ever been told they had one or more of eight specific conditions.