The reform aspect of the health bills....

[vi5]

I'm a supporter of the public option (although was more so for single payer, but....well we all know about that "but").

However I'm curious as to the extent of the other reform aspects of the bills for those that have read them and are more aware of them.

Ironically, the reason I haven't had as much time as I would have liked to read up more thoroughly on every aspect of the bills is because I have a 3 and a half year old son with serious medical issues that take up most of our time.

We have private insurance, but have had the instances of minimal payments to out of network doctors that resulted in thousands of dollars of bills placed on us despite having insurance, certain things being taken away or denied, etc. Our woes on this front are not nearly as bad as many people we've seen in our journey through our wonderful health care system (sarcasm). But obviously this is an ongoing thing and should we ever have to switch, etc. or for my son later in life I'm curious what other reforms and regulations are being included and when those will go in to effect.

-Will it stop private insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions?
-Will it put stricter limits on individual out of pocket expenses (co-pays, deductibles, etc.)?
-Will it stop private insurers from dropping patients for getting sick?

And most importantly, who will hold them accountable when and if they do this?

I do know that all of these things have been mentioned, considered, etc. but the focus has been so much on the public option that I've never really been able to get a clearer picture of these other aspects of it.

Thanks in advance.

[Shagbark Hickory]

1. Theoretically...

Theoretically, it should prevent those things however enforcing it is going to be difficult.

[midnight]

2. Having children with medical needs is a full time job times two....

All good questions.... My question is why is pain being ignored? It is considered the new vital sign and yet, like asthma patients, it is being denied....