Your Health Care Dollars 3DEZ10

HERE'S an update on the Affordable Care Act (health care reform bill passed earlier this year), enactment of the provision starting in 2011 requiring insurance companies to spend 80% of insurance premiums on health care not on overhead or executive compensation, and if they don't do it they have to pay out rebates starting in 2012. This is what the gop and tea-baggers oppose.......I wonder why????? GREED?????

Over the past few years, many Americans have seen their health insurance premiums skyrocket, while the quality of their health care declined. One of the reasons I pushed so hard to pass health care reform this year was to make sure that American consumers get what they pay for when it comes to their health care. Today, we're launching a new provision of the Affordable Care Act that does exactly that. Next year, insurance companies will be required to spend at least 80 percent of the health insurance premiums you pay on your health care, instead of overhead costs like advertising and executive compensation.  If they don't, they will be required to give you a rebate or cut your premiums starting in 2012. I asked Nancy-Ann DeParle, the Director of the Office of Health Reform here at the White House, to break down what this means for you and why it's so important: This new rules will make our health care marketplace more transparent and ensure you get the best value for your premium dollars. And it is just one of the many parts of the Affordable Care Act that are already making our health care system stronger. Here are just a few ways the Affordable Care Act is helping you and your family: HealthCare.gov. This new website helps you find private health insurance coverage that's right for you and your family and now allows you to compare pricing for the options available to you.  In 2014, there will be many more affordable private plan choices. Patient's Bill of Rights. Insurance companies can no longer place lifetime limits on your care.  If you're a young adult under the age of 26, you can stay on your parents' plan, and if your child has a pre-existing condition, insurance companies can't deny his or her coverage. Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan. If you have a pre-existing condition and are having a problem finding coverage, the Affordable Care Act created a special insurance plan just for you.  Help for Small Businesses. If you're a small business owner, you may be eligible for tax credits to help provide insurance for your employees.   Free Preventive Care. If you're purchasing a new plan, you’ll get preventive care like cancer screenings, well-baby and well-child check-ups, and blood pressure or diabetes tests for free. These aren't just talking points. These changes are saving people’s lives and saving you money, and we will continue our work to implement this landmark law and make our health care system better for all of us. Sincerely, President Barack Obama P.S. Nancy-Ann's video follows a few others from the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Austan Goolsbee, who explains some important economic policies.  You can see them all here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/whiteboard

FIND INSURANCE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES, THE UNINSURED AND THOSE WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS AT HEALTHCARE.GOV 1JUL10 &U.S. Health Care Expensive And Underperforming: Study 24JUN10

For many families and small businesses, finding the right insurance plan has meant spending hours on the phone deciphering confusing insurance company lingo and reading way too much fine print. Today finding health insurance just got easier with the launch of HealthCare.gov.
The innovative new website developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services helps you understand all the health insurance options available in your local area for you and your family. After answering just a few basic questions, the website's insurance finder will identify public and private coverage options that might be right for you.  

From HealthCare.gov you can receive updates on the implementation of the new law and, as the website grows, you will be able to research health plan quality ratings, learn about disease prevention, and compare health plan prices all in one place. 

This website is just the beginning of the transparency and peace of mind promised by the new law to check the insurance companies' bad practices and greedy behavior. HealthCare.gov represents an important step in implementation and allows us all to take health care into our own hands.

HealthCare.gov represents an important step as we move forward to end the insurance company's stranglehold over the American health care system.  We hope that this resource will move us closer the peace of mind promised by the new law.

In Solidarity,

Melinda Gibson
Health Care for America Now

P.S. Uninsured due to a pre-existing condition?  Check out the new high risk insurance pools at HealthCare.gov.

 

U.S. Health Care Expensive And Underperforming: Study

 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/24/us-health-care-expensive_n_624248.html

We'll have to wait and see how well the United States men's soccer team fares now that they are in the knockout stages of international competition at the World Cup, but if there's one thing we can all take pride in is the fact that we are the Champions of Health Care! Top prize goes to the system that best combines mediocrity with stratospheric costs, right?
No? Well, that's bad news then, because according to a new study by the Commonwealth  Fund that relieves health care reform proponents of having to cite outdated statistics from the World Health Organization, that's precisely the sort of health care we have. And it's all been rendered in handy-dandy chart form:
Ezra Klein notes: "The issue isn't just that we don't have universal health care. Our delivery system underperforms, too. 'Even when access and equity measures are not considered, the U.S. ranks behind most of the other countries on most measures. With the inclusion of primary care physician survey data in the analysis, it is apparent that the U.S. is lagging in adoption of national policies that promote primary care, quality improvement, and information technology.'"
Nonetheless, I expect no abatement in the tendency of anti-health care reform wags to bleat, "Bu-bu-but, the United States has the best health care in the world!" That's true, in the same way that José Andrés's Minibar has the best molecular cuisine in Washington, DC -- if your life depends on having it, you'd better have the financial security of Ezekiel Emanuel and Antonin Scalia.