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Unless they've changed it yet again, or unless the final bill that comes out of conference is very different, there are several things that start fairly quickly.
A lot of people have been asking what the Senate bill does immediately. To put it another way, in 2010 and 2012, when Republicans are saying that reform has done nothing despite the fact that it hasn't yet gone into effect, what will Democrats be able to brag about? Here's the list:
1) Eliminating lifetime limits, and cap annual limits, on health-care benefits. In other words, if you get an aggressive cancer and your treatment costs an extraordinary amount, your insurer can't suddenly remind you that subparagraph 15 limited your yearly expenses to $30,000, and they're not responsible for anything above that.
2) No more rescissions.
3) Some interim help for people who have preexisting conditions, though the bill does not instantly ban discrimination on preexisting conditions.
4) Requiring insurers to cover preventive care and immunizations.
5) Allowing young adults to stay on their parent's insurance plan until age 26.
6) Developing uniform coverage documents so people can compare different insurance policies in an apples-to-apples fashion.
7) Forcing insurers to spend 80 percent of all premium dollars on medical care (75 percent in the individual market), thus capping the money that can go toward administration, profits, etc.
8) Creating an appeals process and consumer advocate for insurance customers.
9) Developing a temporary re-insurance program to help early retirees (folks over 55) afford coverage.
10) Creating an internet portal to help people shop for and compare coverage.
11) Miscellaneous administrative simplification stuff.
12) Banning discrimination based on salary (i.e., where a company that's not self-insured makes only some full-time workers eligible for coverage).
Unless they've changed it yet again, or unless the final bill that comes out of conference is very different, there are several things that start fairly quickly.
A lot of people have been asking what the Senate bill does immediately. To put it another way, in 2010 and 2012, when Republicans are saying that reform has done nothing despite the fact that it hasn't yet gone into effect, what will Democrats be able to brag about? Here's the list:
1) Eliminating lifetime limits, and cap annual limits, on health-care benefits. In other words, if you get an aggressive cancer and your treatment costs an extraordinary amount, your insurer can't suddenly remind you that subparagraph 15 limited your yearly expenses to $30,000, and they're not responsible for anything above that.
2) No more rescissions.
3) Some interim help for people who have preexisting conditions, though the bill does not instantly ban discrimination on preexisting conditions.
4) Requiring insurers to cover preventive care and immunizations.
5) Allowing young adults to stay on their parent's insurance plan until age 26.
6) Developing uniform coverage documents so people can compare different insurance policies in an apples-to-apples fashion.
7) Forcing insurers to spend 80 percent of all premium dollars on medical care (75 percent in the individual market), thus capping the money that can go toward administration, profits, etc.
8) Creating an appeals process and consumer advocate for insurance customers.
9) Developing a temporary re-insurance program to help early retirees (folks over 55) afford coverage.
10) Creating an internet portal to help people shop for and compare coverage.
11) Miscellaneous administrative simplification stuff.
12) Banning discrimination based on salary (i.e., where a company that's not self-insured makes only some full-time workers eligible for coverage).
Not too bad, not too bad. Republicans have supported and suggested these very same things in the past, but only now they feel compelled to oppose them.
I'm hoping the CBO report will stop this disaster.
Yeah, good point. I haven't seen anything from the CBO yet. And if the estimates are too high, I wonder what some of the senators who are (pretend to be? apparently are concerned?) concerned about cost will do.
I'm disappointed with my Colorado senators. I mean, if we're going to have this disaster forced upon us, the least they could do is pretend to want to vote 'no' so that they can then be bribed so that Colorado can get some goodies like Nebraska and Louisiana!
Congressional budget analysts said the revised package, unveiled Saturday morning by Reid, would spend $871 billion over the next decade to extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans by dramatically expanding Medicaid and offering federal subsidies to those who lack affordable coverage through employers.
Those costs would be more than covered by nearly $400 billion over the next decade in new taxes and nearly $500 billion spending reductions, primarily cuts to Medicare, the federal health program for people over 65. The remainder, about $132 billion over 10 years, would go to lowering the federal deficit.
But the Congressional Budget Office found that the package could reduce budget deficits by as much as $1.3 trillion in the second decade, starting in 2019, a significant improvement in long-run savings compared with both the House bill and the measure Reid had previously crafted. In his blog, CBO director Douglas Elmendorf attributes the change to lower targets for Medicare spending after 2019.
it looks like the mandatory health insurance tax is going to be a reality for americans, with no possible benefits until after 2014.
THROW THE BUMS OUT
It will be a real test of ideologies for sure, especially the left of center. Just wait till they get their premiums. 4 years we pay and I will be willing to bet that the money at the end of the 4 years will vanish into someone's election treasure chest for his or her re-election. Or, it wont be enough and we have to raise even more money. So in the meantime, we get to pay for two premiums we can't afford, our Blue Cross/Blue Shield and then the other healthcare policy we won't see for 4 years.
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