For Many, Health Care Relief Begins Today

A number of the provisions provided in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will take effect today, offering relief to thousands of Americans. The act now prohibits insurance companies from excluding children because due to pre-existing health conditions, and insists they offer coverage to children under 26 on their parents insurance. Read more from the NYTimes.com story below.

Sometimes lost in the partisan clamor about the new health care law is the profound relief it is expected to bring to hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been stricken first by disease and then by a Darwinian insurance system.

On Thursday, the six-month anniversary of the signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a number of its most central consumer protections take effect, just in time for the midterm elections.

Starting now, insurance companies will no longer be permitted to exclude children because of pre-existing health conditions, which the White House said could enable 72,000 uninsured to gain coverage. Insurers also will be prohibited from imposing lifetime limits on benefits.

The law will now forbid insurers to drop sick and costly customers after discovering technical mistakes on applications. It requires that they offer coverage to children under 26 on their parents’ policies.

Continue reading at NYTimes.com…

Comparison of Democratic Health Care Bills

The United States Senate voted last week to debate their health care bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. However, their legislation is significantly different than the bill passed by the House of Representatives a few weeks ago. To help anyone curious about the differences between the two Democratic bills, ABC News has put together this informative article. I’ve included a few sections about each bill, but be sure to checkout the full text here.

The Senate Democratic bill (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act):

WHO'S COVERED: About 94 percent of legal residents under age 65 — compared with 83 percent now. Government subsidies to help buy coverage start in 2014. Illegal immigrants would not receive assistance.

COST: Coverage provisions cost $848 billion over 10 years.

HOW IT'S PAID FOR: Fees on insurance companies, drugmakers, medical device manufacturers. Medicare payroll tax increased to 1.95 percent on income over $200,000 a year for individuals; $250,000 for couples. New 5 percent tax on elective cosmetic surgery. Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Excise tax on insurance companies, keyed to premiums paid on health care plans costing more than $8,500 annually for individuals and $23,000 for families. Fees on employers whose workers receive government subsidies to help them pay premiums. Fines on people who fail to purchase coverage.

The House bill (Affordable Health Care for America Act):

WHO'S COVERED: About 96 percent of legal residents under age 65 — compared with 83 percent now. Government subsidies to help buy coverage start in 2013. About one-third of the remaining 18 million people under age 65 left uninsured would be illegal immigrants.

COST: The Congressional Budget Office says the bill's cost of expanding insurance coverage over 10 years is $1.055 trillion. The net cost is $894 billion, factoring in penalties on individuals and employers who don't comply with new requirements. That's under President Barack Obama's $900 billion goal. However, those figures leave out a variety of new costs in the bill, including increased prescription drug coverage for seniors under Medicare, so the measure may be around $1.2 trillion.

HOW IT'S PAID FOR: $460 billion over the next decade from new income taxes on single people making more than $500,000 a year and couples making more than $1 million. The original House bill taxed individuals making $280,000 a year and couples making more than $350,000, but the threshold was increased in response to lawmakers' concerns that the taxes would hit too many people and small businesses.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Last Wednesday, the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and key Democratic leaders announced their highly anticipated health care reform bill, which has already been voted to the debate floor. For those of you who do not remember, the House of Representatives unveiled their plan a few weeks ago. The Senate's bill is supposedly the result of a handful of different bills, and has been named the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (PPACA). Similarly to the House’s bill the Senate’s act seeks to increase taxes to provide coverage to millions of Americans that are currently without health insurance.

The Basics of the Bill

According to estimates the PPACA is expected to cost $848 billion, and will include a public option that has an opt-out clause for individual states. There will be a federal mandate to purchase insurance, as well as fines for businesses that do not offer insurance. It is expected to provide coverage to over 30 million Americans, but will include a ban preventing illegal immigrants from taking advantage of the program.

Housing Credits for Veterans?

Technically, the PPACA has been presented as an amendment to a House of Representatives bill about housing credits for Veterans. This is a pretty controversial move, and a very strategic way to handle the issue. When debating and voting on a massive health care overhaul, Senators will also be forced to decide the fate of housing benefits for veterans – which is a very sensitive issue for many.

Fixing the Budget

It has been suggested that over the next 10 years, the PPACA will actually reduce the federal budget deficit by an estimated $130 billion. This is because the cost of the bill would be more than offset by tax increases, fees, and a reduction in the growth of Medicare. Additionally, the tax increases will take effect immediately, while the benefits will not begin until 2014.

The "Cadillac" Penalty

One of the ways the reform will be funded is through a new excise tax on high valued, “Cadillac” health insurance plans. If passed into law, a 40% tax would be levied on health coverage in excess of $8,500 for individuals $23,000 for families.

Half Percent Tax for High Earners

Unlike the House’s 1% tax increase, the PPACA will only increase taxes on high earning Americans by 1/2%. According to the bill, Medicare payroll taxes would be increased from 1.45% to 1.95% for individual taxpayers making over $200,000 or families making $250,000 per year.

Fines on Businesses

Any business employing more than 50 employees will be subject to serious fines if they do not provide insurance coverage. They will be forced to pay the Federal government $750 per year per employee that is not insured. However, since the taxes and fines are intended to take effect immediately many experts are worried that these fees will make the country’s unemployment problem even worse.

Cosmetic Surgery Tax

Lookout Hollywood, the health care reform bill also includes a 5% tax on elective cosmetic surgeries. This may not seem like that big of a deal to most of us, however it opens a dangerous door by allowing the government to tax a procedure directly.