Whatever your position is on health care reform, the current bill, and whether it should pass, everyone should first know the facts. Throughout the last week I've noticed there's a wide variation of facts as well as opinions. We can talk about if these items are worth passing, if these items are "enough", but we cannot say the bill does nothing in the first year. It does do these things.
Below the fold are immediate benefits of passing the health care reform bill.
Regarding Kucinich - I was at the rally in Strongsville yesterday. I could see Congressman Kucinich during the rally and he was taking notes on a yellow notepad. I am hoping, and this may be wishful thinking, that this means he was making note of the benefits and will vote yes.
Update: Kucinich is voting 'Yes' ! Thanks Dennis !
Immediate Benefits of Health Care Reform
Notice Number One is - Access to Affordable Coverage for the Uninsured with Pre-existing Conditions.
- Access to Affordable Coverage for the Uninsured with Pre-existing Conditions
- Access to Quality Care for Vulnerable Populations
- No Pre-existing Coverage Exclusions for Children
- Re-insurance for Retiree Health Benefit Plans
- Closing the Coverage Gap in the Medicare (Part D) Drug Benefit
- Small Business Tax Credits
- Ensuring Value for Premium Payments
- Patient Protections
- Extension of Dependent Coverage for Young Adults
- Free Prevention Benefits
- No Lifetime Limits on Coverage
- Protection from Rescissions of Existing Coverage
- Prohibits Discrimination Based on Salary
- Public Access to Comparable Information on Insurance Options
- Health Insurance Consumer Information
From TPM, the same list posted today in an article by Christina Bellantoni:
"Also key to winning over the American people - stressing the benefits of the legislation that would kick in this year.
They are:
- Offer tax credits to small businesses to purchase coverage; - Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all new plans; - Provide immediate access to insurance for uninsured Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition through a temporary high-risk pool; - Prohibit dropping people from coverage when they get sick in all individual plans; - Eliminate lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits in all plans; - Require premium rebates to enrollees from insurers with high administrative expenditures and require public disclosure of the percent of premiums applied to overhead costs; - Ensure consumers have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal new insurance plan decisions; - Require plans to cover an enrollee's dependent children until age 26; - Require new plans to cover preventive services and immunizations without cost-sharing;-Relief on the Donut Hole."