The health care reform negators

[Maraya1969]

All who are screaming about mandatory payments to the insurance and how this health reform bill nothing but a give away to the insurance companies must be more informed and more intelligent than about 58 Democratic Senators and over 200 Democratic Congress persons(and they did not have to twist many arms) and Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann. You must know something that they don't to be so sure this is a horrible bill. Here are a few items contained within the bill. I personally think they sound good. And there is a lot more at the link.


This is either part of the bill or separate but it is expected to pass or has passed.

"The Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act will do something very simple -- it will amend the McCarran-Ferguson Act, a law put in place in 1945, to subject health insurance companies to federal antitrust laws. Currently, only two industries are exempt from antitrust laws -- health insurance and Major League Baseball."

And here are some of the benefits of the bill.


http://dpc.senate.gov/dpcdoc-sen_health_care_bill.cfm

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Immediate Benefits

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes health insurance market reforms that will bring immediate benefits to millions of Americans, including those who currently have coverage. The following benefits will be available in the first year after enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Access to Affordable Coverage for the Uninsured with Pre-existing Conditions

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will provide $5 billion in immediate federal support for a new program to provide affordable coverage to uninsured Americans with pre-existing conditions.

ü Coverage under this program will continue until new Exchanges are operational.

Re-insurance for Retiree Health Benefit Plans

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will create immediate access to re-insurance for employer health plans providing coverage for early retirees.

ü This re-insurance will help protect coverage while reducing premiums for employers and retirees.

Closing the Coverage Gap in the Medicare (Part D) Drug Benefit

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will reduce the size of the “donut hole” by raising the ceiling on the initial coverage period by $500 in 2010.

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will also guarantee 50 percent price discounts on brand-name drugs and biologics purchased by low and middle-income beneficiaries in the coverage gap.

Small Business Tax Credits

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will offer tax credits to small businesses to make employee coverage more affordable.

ü Tax credits of up to 50 percent of premiums will be available to firms that choose to offer coverage.

Extension of Dependent Coverage for Young Adults

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will require insurers to permit children to stay on family policies until age 26.

Free Prevention Benefits

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will require coverage of prevention and wellness benefits and exempt these benefits from deductibles and other cost-sharing requirements in public and private insurance coverage.

No Arbitrary Limits on Coverage

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will prohibit insurers from imposing lifetime limits on benefits and will restrict the use of annual limits.

Protection from Rescissions of Existing Coverage

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will stop insurers from rescinding insurance when claims are filed, except in cases of fraud or intentional misrepresentation of material fact.

http://dpc.senate.gov/dpcdoc-sen_health_care_bill.cfm


Prohibits Discrimination Based on Salary

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will prohibit group health plans from establishing any eligibility rules for health care coverage that have the effect of discriminating in favor of higher wage employees.

Ensuring Value for Premium Payments

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will establish standards for insurance overhead to ensure that premiums are spent on health benefits.

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will also require public disclosure of overhead and benefit spending and require premium rebates for insurers that exceed established standards for overhead expenses.

Public Access to Comparable Information on Insurance Options

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will enable creation of a new website to provide information on and facilitate informed consumer choice of insurance options.

Health Insurance Consumer Information

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will provide assistance to States in establishing offices of health insurance consumer assistance or health insurance ombudsman programs to assist individuals with the filing of complaints and appeals, enrollment in a health plan, and, eventually, to assist consumers with resolving problems with tax credit eligibility.

Clear Summaries, Without the Fine Print

ü The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will require insurance companies to outline coverage options using a simple and standard format that enables consumers to make an apples-to-apples comparison when they are choosing their health insurance plan.

Appeals Process

ü Under The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, all health plans will implement an effective appeals process for appeals of coverage determinations and claims.

Administrative Simplification

ü Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, all health plans will adopt uniform descriptions of plan benefits and appeals procedures and will use uniform forms and claims processing processes to reduce costs.

How The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Will Help American Families
Lower Costs for American Families

ü Insurance Industry Reforms that Save Families Money

o The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will put a cap on what insurance companies can require families to pay in out-of-pocket expenses, such as co-pays and deductibles, prohibit lifetime limits on benefits, and restrict the use of annual limits.

ü Premium Relief

o The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will require premium rate reviews to track any arbitrary premium increases and will crack down on excessive insurance overhead by applying standards on how much insurance companies can spend on non-medical costs, such as bureaucracy and advertising. It will also provide sliding scale premium tax credits for families that still cannot afford quality health insurance.

ü Reduced Cost-Shifting

o To pay for the cost of uncompensated care, medical providers pass costs on to private insurers, which pass them on to families. This cost-shifting increases family premiums by, on average, over $1,100 a year. By covering more Americans, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will lower this surcharge on premiums.

Greater Choices for American Families

ü More Affordable Choices

o The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will create a health insurance Exchange that will provide families with a variety of choices, including private options and a public option to foster competition and increase choice.

ü One-Stop Shopping to Put Families in Charge

o The Exchange will provide standardized, easy-to-understand information on different health insurance plans offered in a geographic region so families can easily compare prices and health plans and decide which quality affordable option is right for them.

ü Insurance Security

o By creating a health insurance Exchange, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will ensure that families always have guaranteed choices of quality, affordable health insurance whether they lose their job, switch jobs, move or get sick.

Quality, Affordable Health Care for all Americans

ü Ending Insurance Company Discrimination

o The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will prevent insurance companies from denying families health insurance because of a pre-existing health condition or excluding coverage of that condition, and it will prevent insurance companies from dropping coverage if a family member gets sick or charging more because of health status or gender.

o Within a year of enactment, people who have health problems, but who lack access to health insurance, will be able to purchase a plan that protects them from medical bankruptcy. This high risk pool is a stop-gap measure that will serve as a bridge to a reformed health insurance marketplace.

ü Preventive Care for Better Health

o The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ensures free preventive services under all insurance plans and invests in prevention and public health to encourage innovations in health care that prevent illness and disease before they require more costly treatment.

ü Tax Credits and Premium Assistance for Families and their Employers

o The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provides sliding scale tax credits to working families to make sure they can afford quality coverage, and a sliding scale tax credit to small businesses so they can offer competitive, affordable rates to their employees