Monday, March 22, 2010

Ten [Almost] Immediate Benefits of Health Care Reform

Here are ten benefits which come online within six months of the President's signature on the health care bill:

1.) Adult children may remain as dependents on their parents’ policy until their 27th birthday

2.) Children under age 19 may not be excluded for pre-existing conditions

3.) No more lifetime or annual caps on coverage

4.) Free preventative care for all

5.) Adults with pre-existing conditions may buy into a national high-risk pool until the exchanges come online. While these will not be cheap, they’re still better than total exclusion and get some benefit from a wider pool of insureds.

6.) Small businesses will be entitled to a tax credit for 2009 and 2010, which could be as much as 50% of what they pay for employees’ health insurance.

7.) The “donut hole” closes for Medicare patients, making prescription medications more affordable for seniors.

8.) Requirement that all insurers must post their balance sheets on the Internet and fully disclose administrative costs, executive compensation packages, and benefit payments.

9.) Authorizes early funding of community health centers in all 50 states (Bernie Sanders’ amendment). Community health centers provide primary, dental and vision services to people in the community, based on a sliding scale for payment according to ability to pay.

10.) AND no more rescissions. Effective immediately, you can't lose your insurance because you get sick.

---- from Crooks & Liars

Also, AKM at The Mudflats has more on benefits of this legislation.

I can see our family benefitting from #s 1, 3, 4, 7 & 10.

17 comments:

Unknown said...

And 1 indirect benefit - no more family bankruptcies due to health care bills.

Sunday was good day.

clark said...

i liked this daily kos post about what this legislation also means, regarding people's ability and inclination to not stay tied to employment and/or spouses that are bad for their spiritual well-being.

Anonymous said...

Encouraging folks to sign onto Rep. Alan Grayson's petition for a vote on the public option:

http://salsa.mydccc.org/o/30019/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=17

Bob Broughton said...

Has anybody thanked the Crazy Woman for her role in destroying the credibility of the health care reform opposition?

Anonymous said...

@ Bob Broughton

Yes, SP is the Democrats' secret weapon against the GOP. Put the crazy coot from Alaska in the vanguard and donations come pouring into the Dems.

Can't wait to see her sink McCain's re-election chances in Arizona by campaigning for the old creeper.

Anonymous said...

Yeah it was such a good bill that the Dem majority had to lie, cheat, bribe and threaten their own party in order to save Obama. This bill could have been so much better but instead we are stuck with another govt-run industry that will crash and burn. Whoop it up, statists, just watch your taxes rise (presuming any of you actually pay taxes)

Kittie Howard said...

Sunday was a very good day. We got dressed up and stepped into the twenty-first century.

Anonymous said...

"4.) Free preventative care for all"

sorry Phil but there is nothing free in this world.
good try though!

Anonymous said...

If Kittie means the 21st Century of bankrupt statist solutions, crippling debt and government forcing its citizens to purchase a service for the first time in US history then she's probably right.

Anonymous said...

Oxymoron:

As defined in example one:

Adult Children are now defined as age 27...???

Does no one else find this silly?

Of course, you can give me a lecture on how adult children need to be defined this way...

If you do, then I will respond bring back the frickin draft to speed up the maturing process for our "adult" children so that they can become actual adults before age 27.

What a joke, but I guess the joke is on us.

Can we start arguing for breastfeeding of adult children in public, cause you know it is just taking longer these days to ween kids before they become full adult children.

Anonymous said...

And, finally, a Dem politician comes out and confesses what Obamacare is REALLY about...Rep.John Dingell (D-MI)..

"Let me remind you this has been going on for years. We are bringing it to a halt. The harsh fact of the matter is when you’re going to pass legislation that will cover 300 American people in different ways it takes a long time to do the necessary administrative steps that have to be taken to put the legislation together to CONTROL THE PEOPLE."

caps added.

Anonymous said...

I still can't figure out what all the "nutters" (that's what we call the teabaggers) are all against. If they don't want the health care they should sign a form and they won't get it - simple.
I like how the Re-thug leadership doesn't take any responsibility for the outrageous behavior of their nutter party.

Anonymous said...

"I still can't figure out what all the "nutters" (that's what we call the teabaggers) are all against."

That's obviously because you either have no imagination or because you only watch MSNBC.

"I like how the Re-thug leadership doesn't take any responsibility for the outrageous behavior of their nutter party."

What "outrageous behavior" ? Is daring to oppose Obama "outrageous behavior"? Try and man up...

Anonymous said...

Oh noes...turns out even the AP thinks there's problems with the Obamacare Bill. Meanwhile AT&T admit this is going to cost them ONE BILLION DOLLARS in it's first year of operation. The Democrats screwed us all over just to save Obama's face...disgusting !

Unknown said...

You forgot Sarah will be the first to sign up her family once somebody in the family gets real expensive like sick.

Unknown said...

You forgot Sarah will be the first to sign up her family once somebody in the family gets real expensive like sick.

Anonymous said...

Ah, Manuel. the voice of the reasonable Left. Don't look at how bad the Bill is, don't look at how Obama lied about the biggest government take over of our lives, don't look at the billions of dollars of pork demanded by the Stupak 11....no, instead we must all look at Sarah Palin instead.. Pathetic.