U.S. Congress Passes Historic Health Care Reform

liah

http://newsjunkiepost.com/2010/03/21/congress-passes-historic-health-care-reform/

FTA:

Rep. John B. Larson (D-CT), the Chairman of the Democratic Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives writes that the top 10 immediate benefits of the bill will be:

Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all new plans;
Provide immediate access to insurance for uninsured Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition through a temporary high-risk pool;
Prohibit dropping people from coverage when they get sick in all individual plans;
Lower seniors prescription drug prices by beginning to close the donut hole;
Offer tax credits to small businesses to purchase coverage;
Eliminate lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits in all plans;
Require plans to cover an enrollee’s dependent children until age 26;
Require new plans to cover preventive services and immunizations without cost-sharing;
Ensure consumers have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal new insurance plan decisions;
Require premium rebates to enrollees from insurers with high administrative expenditures and require public disclosure of the percent of premiums applied to overhead costs.


The health care reform expert Karoli adds:

1.Adult children may remain as dependents on their parents’ policy until age 26
2.Children under age 19 may not be excluded for pre-existing conditions
3.No more lifetime or annual caps on coverage
4.Free preventative care for all
5.Adults with pre-existing conditions may buy into a national high-risk pool until the exchanges come online. While these will not be cheap, they’re still better than total exclusion and get some benefit from a wider pool of insureds.
6.Small businesses will be entitled to a tax credit for 2009 and 2010, which could be as much as 50% of what they pay for employees’ health insurance.
7.The “donut hole” closes for Medicare patients, making prescription medications more affordable for seniors.
8.Requirement that all insurers must post their balance sheets on the Internet and fully disclose administrative costs, executive compensation packages, and benefit payments.
9.Authorizes early funding of community health centers in all 50 states (Bernie Sanders’ amendment)

A step in the right direction, might help the global reputation of the States improve a little bit.

Whole article's worth a read, but I know you AHers have a short attention span.

DrumSteve

gave it a read there...


Im sure the insurance companies will find some way to claw back whatever they lose... the big problem now is to get the price of the medicene itself down.

For Forks Sake

More importantly, Rush Limbaugh declared he'd leave the US if it passed:

http://theweek.com/article/index/200639/Should_Rush_Limbaugh_leave_America

Biggins

For Forks Sake wrote: »

More importantly, Rush Limbaugh declared he'd leave the US if it passed:

http://theweek.com/article/index/200639/Should_Rush_Limbaugh_leave_America

Good riddance!
Now lets hope he don't dump himself on our shores.

For Forks Sake

Biggins wrote: »

Good riddance!
Now lets hope he don't dump himself on our shores.

I think his threat was to impose himself on the good folk of Costa Rica

Riddle101

I wish we could have a health care reform:(

PrettyBoy

Great news.

Sea Sharp

Perhaps this is an opportunity to export Mary Harney???

For Forks Sake

GaNjaHaN wrote: »

Perhaps this is an opportunity to export Mary Harney???

As what? Livestock?

orourkeda

who gives a rats ass

stovelid

liah wrote: »

Whole article's worth a read, but I know you AHers have a short attention span.

If ever a sentence could just pat you superciliously on the head....

DrumSteve

stovelid wrote: »

If ever a sentence could just pat you superciliously on the head....

Big...Word....

Ruu_Old

Yes but did Randy Neugebauer say "baby killer" or "it's a baby killer!"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBbexhwSDVs

Black Swan

What the OP failed to mention is that all Americans must be enrolled in health care insurance provided by a for-profit insurance corporation, or suffer penalties? This is not socialized medicine, but rather capitalized medicine.

liah

Blue_Lagoon wrote: »

What the OP failed to mention is that all Americans must be enrolled in health care insurance provided by a for-profit insurance corporation, or suffer penalties? This is not socialized medicine, but rather capitalized medicine.

It's a reform. It's a step in the right direction. They're not there yet, but they're working on it, which is a very, very good sign. I didn't "fail to mention" anything; it's still better than what it was.

Biggins

orourkeda wrote: »

who gives a rats ass

Cambodians apparently would.
I hear they'd stick it between a bread roll!

Iwasfrozen

For Forks Sake wrote: »

More importantly, Rush Limbaugh declared he'd leave the US if it passed:

http://theweek.com/article/index/200639/Should_Rush_Limbaugh_leave_America

Let's hope he stays true.

_Bella_

This is just going to increase the cost of healthcare for the average american.

marco_polo

Blue_Lagoon wrote: »

What the OP failed to mention is that all Americans must be enrolled in health care insurance provided by a for-profit insurance corporation, or suffer penalties? This is not socialized medicine, but rather capitalized medicine.

In fairness, This was a hard enough sell. I don't think Obama is in a position to roll out the American equivelant of the NHS just yet.

Iwasfrozen

_Bella_ wrote: »

This is just going to increase the cost of healthcare for the average american.

How exactly ?

America spends $7,290 per person on health care each year. That is 16% of their GDP.

France spends $3,601 per person on health care each year. Or 11% of their GDP. That is half the cost of the American model.

Are you really saying that the health plan the American government provides its people is superior to the protection given by the French government ?

If you are going to make bull**** claims at least be able to back them up.

Iwasfrozen

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

How exactly ?

America spends $7,290 per person on health care each year. That is 16% of their GDP.

France spends $3,601 per person on health care each year. Or 11% of their GDP. That is half the cost of the American model.

Are you really saying that the health plan the American government provides its people is superior to the protection given by the French government ?

If you are going to make bull**** claims at least be able to back them up.

I think he meant their individual premiums would increase since they're now all obliged to buy in one way or another

Rented Mule

For Forks Sake wrote: »

I think his threat was to impose himself on the good folk of Costa Rica

He's only saying that because they have cheap Viagra and Oxycotin.

Iwasfrozen

bluewolf wrote: »

I think he meant their individual premiums would increase since they're now all obliged to buy in one way or another

Which is why they need more regulation not less. Also with economies of scale increasing the insurance companies profits they will be able to lower prices even futher. Thus cheaper health protection.

Iwasfrozen

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

Which is why they need more regulation not less. Also with economies of scale increasing the insurance companies will be able to lower prices even futher. Thus cheaper health protection.

That's a tad bit different to "wanting to", particularly when you're talking about for-profit insurance companies who now know that everyone HAS to buy from them
premiums up, profits up
they'll have to start making up for the "can't kick people off their policy for getting sick" and "can't exclude 'pre-existing conditions' anymore" 'losses'

Iwasfrozen

bluewolf wrote: »

That's a tad bit different to "wanting to", particularly when you're talking about for-profit insurance companies who now know that everyone HAS to buy from them
premiums up, profits up
they'll have to start making up for the "can't kick people off their policy for getting sick" and "can't exclude 'pre-existing conditions' anymore" 'losses'

Hence the greater regulation to force them to lower premiums.

Iwasfrozen

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

Hence the greater regulation to force them to lower premiums.

why are you suddenly talking about regulation here, I never said they should have less?
I can't imagine them having that kinda regulation for a good while anyway, getting this reform passed was enough of a hurdle.
so the original quote from bella

This is just going to increase the cost of healthcare for the average american.

seems quite apt to me

Iwasfrozen

bluewolf wrote: »

why are you suddenly talking about regulation here, I never said they should have less?

Suddenly ? I've been talking about regulation since the start:

Which is why they need more regulation not less. Also with economies of scale increasing the insurance companies profits they will be able to lower prices even futher. Thus cheaper health protection.

bluewolf wrote: »

I can't imagine them having that kinda regulation for a good while anyway, getting this reform passed was enough of a hurdle.
so the original quote from bella
seems quite apt to me

Which is exactly why I said we need more regulation in response to Bellas quote.

Pepe LeFrits

GObama, GObama!

recylingbin

A real shot in the arm for Obama.

stovelid

Sherman Tank forum?