Health Care Reform Right Away

In their fanatical efforts to stop the American people from getting low-cost, readily available health insurance, the Senate Republicans have resorted to many distortions of fact. One of them is that although the new taxes for wealthy people envisioned by the bill will take effect immediately, the benefits of health care reform will not begin until 2013. While it is true that some reforms will not take hold until 2013, there are a number of important benefits that will begin immediately when the bill that was supported by Senate is signed into law by President Obama

Senior citizens who are beneficiaries of the Medicare Part D drug program should be aware that the bill will immediately begin closing the “donut hole.” That is the period during which seniors have to pay the full cost of their prescriptions after they amass $2,700 in drug costs. After $2,700, Medicare does not resume paying for drug expenses until seniors reach $4,350 in out-of-pocket payments, a figure most seniors never reach in one year. The health care reform bill will immediately cut the donut hole by $500 and institute a 50 percent discount in brand-name drugs. It will eventually abolish the donut hole. For many seniors who simply cannot afford to buy their essential medications during the donut hole, that will be life saving.

The health care reform bill creates an insurance Exchange that begins in 2013 and will enable purchasers to search for the best and lowest-cost insurance. Until the Exchange is put in place, however, the bill will immediately create a temporary insurance program to help uninsured people or people who have been denied policies because of preexisting conditions.

The bill will immediately ban companies from placing lifetime caps on coverage, or (except in cases of fraud) rescinding a patient’s policy when he or she files a claim for benefits.

The bill will immediately allow displaced workers to keep their COBRA coverage until the Exchange is in place and they can access affordable coverage.

The bill immediately creates a long-term-care insurance program, financed by voluntary payroll deductions, to provide benefits to adults who become functionally disabled.

One of the problems that may arise when you add millions of new patients to the rolls of people who are covered by health insurance is that there will be insufficient numbers of doctors and health care workers to handle them. The health care reform bill provides immediate new massive investment in training programs to increase the number of primary care doctors, nurses, and public health professionals.

The bill will immediately require that health plans allow young people up to age 27 to remain on their parents’ insurance policies if their parents so choose.

The bill will immediately eliminate co-payments for preventative services and will exempt preventative services from deductibles under the Medicare program.

The bill will immediately provide protection in Medicare for low-income people in order to assure that more individuals are able to access Medicare assistance.

The bill will immediately prohibit Medicare Advantage (the private Medicare insurance program subsidized by the federal government) from charging enrollees higher cost-sharing for services in their private plan than is charged in traditional Medicare.

Insurance companies have threatened to raise premiums if the health care reform bill is passed. The bill will immediately take steps to discourage excessive price increases, including review and disclosure of insurance rates.

There are a number of other provisions of the bill that will take effect immediately. Perhaps that is the problem the Senate Republicans have with the bill. Their despicable masters in the health insurance industry are terrified that despite all of the millions they spent to grease the palms of Republican senators, this bill will begin to adversely affect their profits now. I hope it does.