Here’s What Health Care Reform Means for Working Families

by Seth Michaels, Nov 4, 2009

The AFL-CIO is running an ad in support of health care reform in newspapers in the Washington, D.C., area.

Within days, the U.S. House will vote on a historic health care reform bill that will cover everyone, cut costs and protect families from insurance company abuses.

The House bill, H.R. 3962—the Affordable Health Care for America Act—has provisions that will help families now and in the long term, all while decreasing the nation’s deficit.

Although some provisions of reform will require time to implement, here are key changes that will kick in immediately, providing direct and critical relief to millions of working families:

• An immediate insurance program for high-risk uninsured people to buy into.
• Ending “rescissions”—prohibiting insurers from nullifying coverage when patients file claims.
• Ending the lifetime caps on how much care insurers will cover.
• Allowing young people to stay on their parents’ policies until age 27.
• Allowing workers who have lost coverage because they lost their job to extend COBRA coverage.
• New incentive programs to increase the number of doctors.
• Funding for community health centers.
• Reducing the “donut hole” in Medicare prescription drug coverage—which right now doesn’t cover any drug costs between $2,700 and $4,050.
• A new fund to help employers pay for coverage for early retirees.

And that’s just the beginning. Over time, H.R. 3962 will create an exchange in which millions can buy insurance—including the choice of a public health insurance option to compete with insurance companies. Middle-class families will have real choices and real protections from unfair insurance practices—meaning they and their doctors, not health insurance bureaucrats, will be in charge of their health care. And the House bill includes both real responsibility for employers and subsidies to help families afford insurance.

The bill also includes numerous provisions to make care more affordable and better in quality, including electronic medical records, tools to fight fraud and waste and incentives for better care. It will end denials of coverage for pre-existing conditions and end co-payments for preventative care.

Here’s a two-page fact sheet detailing the many ways this bill will provide high-quality, affordable care to families—covering the uninsured and making sure insurance works for those who do have it.

A new Alliance for Retired Americans report points out some particularly important benefits of H.R. 3962 for seniors. In addition to beginning to close the “donut hole” in Medicare Part D’s prescription drug coverage, the bill raises subsidies for low- and middle-income seniors to buy prescription drugs and allows Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices.

You can read the full bill here and detailed summaries here.

The AFL-CIO is supporting the House health care bill with new print ads running this week in Washington, D.C.-area newspapers, including Roll Call, the Hill and Politico. The ads ask Congress to vote for a reform bill that doesn’t put a new tax on middle-class families’ health benefits. It’s part of a national week of action on health care that will include union member phone calls to Congress and public rallies across the country.

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