Reforms already in effect
More young adults with insurance. All health plans must allow young adults to remain as dependents on their parent’s health plan until they turn 26, whether or not they live at home or can be declared as dependents on the parent’s income tax return. An estimated 6.6 million young adults who would otherwise be uninsured have gained coverage during the first year of eligibility, according to a recent analysis by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit health policy think tank.
Cheaper drugs for people on Medicare. Seniors who reach the “donut hole” – the point when they have to start paying prescription drug expenses themselves – now get a 50 percent discount when buying brand-name drugs and a 14 percent discount on generic drugs covered by Medicare Part D. More than 5 million older adults and people with disabilities have saved $3.5 billion in prescription costs since the law was passed. The donut hole will continue to shrink until it disappears completely by 2020.
Temporary help for people with pre-existing conditions. To tide people with health problems over until 2014, the law created temporary Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plans in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. Thanks to federal subsidies, people who have been denied coverage or quoted outrageous premiums because of their health history can buy these comprehensive health plans for about the same price as a healthy person their age would pay for a private plan. The catch is that to qualify for the program, the law says people must have gone without insurance for at least six months. Even so, 67,482 Americans had enrolled in these plans as of April 30, 2012. This program is scheduled to expire in 2014, when people with pre-existing conditions will no longer be locked out of the health insurance market.
Free preventive care. New private health plans must cover and eliminate cost-sharing (co-payment, co-insurance or deductible) for proven preventive measures such as immunizations, Pap smears, and screening colonoscopies. Beginning August 2012, private health plans must provide additional preventive measures to women, including free well-woman visits, screening for gestational diabetes, domestic violence screening, breastfeeding supplies, and contraception. Workplaces run by religious organizations that object to birth control are to receive a special accommodation: their health plans must still offer the coverage, but the cost of it will be borne entirely by their insurance companies.
People on Medicare are also now entitled to the same free preventive coverage, and in addition get a free annual “wellness visit.”
More consumer protections. Health insurers can’t set lifetime limits on your coverage or cancel if you get sick. Annual limits on coverage in job-related and individual plans are now restricted to a minimum of $1.2 million, which will increase to $2 million beginning Sept. 23, 2012, before being completely phased out in January 2014.
I am really happy to know this. Thank you so much author. I am a fan of your blog. To cover my dental treatment expenses, I always prefer stand alone dental discount plans CT . Can you write about this plan? Thank in advance.
ReplyDelete