Health Insurance Reform In the News
Jacksonville, Florida — The House of Representatives has recently passed historic legislation in the form of a new healthcare reform Bill titled, The Affordable Health Care for America Act. This law will likely go into effect on January 1, 2010, or whenever it is signed into law by President Barack Obama.
The Affordable Health Care for America Act is aimed at those who have been uninsured, those who have been denied group health insurance for pre-existing conditions. Under the new law, no person can be denied insurance unless some kind of fraud has been committed.
The current federal healthcare programs of Medicaid and Medicare will remain in place. The eligibility requirements for these programs will remain unchanged under the new Bill. For Medicaid, those with little income or resources will still qualify, and for Medicare, those over 65 will qualify for those respective programs.
One of the most significant features of the new health care plan is a health insurance Exchange will be created as a marketplace for insurance products. The exchange will consist of several insurance plans that have different levels of coverage. This exchange will be completely regulated by the federal government, the intent of which will be to keep health insurance costs down and to ensure that minimum levels of coverage are mandated. Ultimately, the idea of a health insurance exchange is to provide for a competitive marketplace that offers choices to consumers. Many experts surmise that this competition will drive the cost of health insurance down.
The exchange will have a base plan that affords the minimally required coverage, and there will be four tiers available that add benefits for additional cost. Each tier affords more benefits, and the premium-plus level provides benefits like dental and vision coverage. This tiered approach has been designed to allow for a variety of health insurance choices, and a Health Choices Commissioner will be assigned to set up a selection procedure with qualified plans.
This plan is designed to provide coverage for those who cannot afford a conventional health insurance plan, and who cannot qualify for Medicaid or Medicare. The plan is also designed to address the affordability of current health insurance plans. Affordability credits will be set up that will allow people of a certain income level to qualify for affordable health insurance. Those with incomes of as much as four times the federal poverty level can qualify for the government health insurance plan. In return, they will be required to pay an additional 2.5% income tax to help cover the cost of the plan.
Small employers that do not provide health insurance plans to their employees will be forced to pay an additional 8% payroll tax to cover the cost.
Those already enrolled in a health insurance plan, and those receiving Medicaid or Medicare benefits cannot qualify under the new health insurance Bill.
This Bill has not become a law yet, and will have to pass in the Senate by 60 out of 100 votes. After that, the President will have to sign the Bill into law.
November 16th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
It won’t pass