LIST of the 10 Major New Health Reform Benefits That Take Effect Today

[Tx4obama]

Good article/list that everyone should read

10 Major New Health Reform Benefits Take Effect Today
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-b-larson/10-major-new-health-refor_b_736766.html

[jaxx]

1. Lots of good things and more to come.

[ThomCat]

2. Unfortunately, insurance companies are neutralizing these.

When the largest insurance companies announce that they will no longer provide ANY policies for children, that negates the benefits for children.

They are going to do everything they can to stop offering insurance to anyone who needs insurance, anyone with a preexisting condition, because now they can't cancel our plans or cap our coverage. There is no way to make a guaranteed large profit off of us anymore, so they will refuse to cover us at all. Refusing to cover children is just the first step.

Only the family plans that include children. But more and more companies are offering plans that only cover the employee, not any family members. Or, if the employee wants to insure his or her family, the employee has to pay the entire additional cost, which is so incredibly cost-prohibitive that very few people can afford to insure their families. So children are being excluded from these plans too.


The second big strategy insurance companies are pursuing is the simple one of simply raising their rates. I'm sure we've all been paying attention to the news and we've all been watching the rapid price increases. The insurance companies have been raising their rates even faster in the past year than they were before in preparation for these new rules. They want their rates to be as sky high as possible before any rules start to interfere with their ability to raise rates in a few years. By the time that happens, almost all of us will be priced out of the market. Insurance will be something NONE of US will be able to afford.

Just in time, the mandates will kick in forcing all of us to Buy Policies Or Else! Of Course the government will have subsidies for people who are poorest. But nothing will force the companies to lower their rates. Market rates will prevail. That was the biggest compromise the insurance companies were given from the very beginning.

The only limit is that market rates can't increase too quickly after a certain point, but the market rate will always be allowed to keep increasing. So the in insurance companies want to the market rate to be sky high before they have to slow down the rate of increase.

The negotiated rules in the "health care reform" state that policies can cost a maximum of 22% of your income. The insurance companies want to make sure that they get every dollar of that 22% of your income, no matter how much money you make, or how much of a subsidy is available. They want all of it, every dollar of it. Their rates have to be high enough to guarantee that the cost will be 22% of anyone's income.

Health Insurance will become a 22% income tax that every healthy person pays to the insurance industry instead of to the IRS.

[eridani]

3. +1000 n/t

[BlueIris]

5. Thanks, ThomCat. I like sanity. And reality. nt

[gscraig]

6. Granted, these aren't a cure-all

So of course insurance companies are going to continue to fight tooth and nail for their profits. To the extent that this health care does what it intends, it will hold the insurance and health spending in check. Sadly I think that we can't hope that the insurance industry will change of its own accord, and hopefully these new regulations will help to curtail some of the nastiest practices.

[derby378]

4. ...UNLESS you get your health insurance from the state

Choose your own doctor on a state-administered plan? Last I heard, that's still inoperative.