Health Insurance
Health insurance reform is about two things: making insurance secure and affordable to those who have it, and ensuring access to affordable, quality coverage for those who don’t.
Too many Americans have to fight with our insurance companies over basic care -- being excluded for preexisting conditions, facing outrageous medical bills, or appealing again and again to have a much-needed procedure approved.
For example:
Nikki tried everything to get medical care, but no insurance company would accept someone with her pre-existing condition. Her doctor said, “Nikki didn’t die from lupus, she died from complications of the failing American health care system.”
When 17-year-old Brianna Rice was diagnosed with celiac disease in February, she had health insurance. In May, American Community not only canceled her policy, but also rescinded coverage all the way back to the day it started, Nov. 1st, claiming her parents, both out of work, lied on her application.
Sarah Wildman's six-month-old daughter cost over $22,000, but not because they were uninsured. The “maternity” coverage her family purchased didn’t cover labor, delivery, or hospital stay.
Eric De La Cruz, a young Nevada man, was in need of a heart transplant, but it wasn’t covered. The family raised nearly $1 million to pay for it, but after repeated delays and red tape, Mr. De La Cruz died before he could have the operation.
We have proposed specific and important health insurance reforms to:
Protect Consumers
The bill includes strong reforms to the insurance market so that consumers will be more secure in their health coverage.
- Insurers will be prohibited from excluding coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
- Insurers will be prevented from selectively refusing to renew coverage. They will no longer be able to charge people different premiums based on their gender, health status, or occupation; and the percent difference insurers can charge based on age is limited to a rate band of 2:1.
- Requires a standardized annual out-of-pocket spending limit so that no family faces bankruptcy due to medical expenses.
- Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in private plans will no longer be charged cost sharing above traditional Medicare.
- New requirements on plans will ensure that they keep costs down and pass on savings to consumers.
Create a more user-friendly marketplace
The bill establishes a transparent, consumer-friendly health care marketplace that focuses on quality, affordable choices for all Americans and keeps insurers honest.
- Creates a new Health Insurance Exchange that provides people with a menu of both public and private quality, affordable health care options so they choose the plan that best meets their needs.
- Consumers and employers will have clear information and transparency on plan costs and benefits in the Exchange so they can comparison shop for the best deals and care.
- Consumer Advocacy offices, a website, 1-800 number and other outreach components will help people understand and select plans, ensure that they receive promised benefits and services, and provide additional help.
- Guarantees benefits so that all consumers have plans with high quality, critical and comprehensive health care benefits.
- Streamlines and simplifies all administrative forms, billing codes and other processes so the system is more efficient and less confusing for all plans, providers and consumers.
And tell me about your health insurance battle in the comments section below.
Posted by Peake, Amy at 07:23PM | | Comments ()
