Let’s pass health-care reform now!

Folks,

We are just way to close not to pass health-reform. As you probably all know, I'm a notorious Progressive, so believe me I hate some of the provisions in this bill. Among other things I think it's a huge giveaway to the health insurance industry. But what's the alternative? Should we just leave the status-quo in place? Does the idea of ever increasing premiums, more rescission when you need your health insurance, and yearly lifetime maximums that keep getting lower and lower sound appealing to anyone? Anyway, I've talked about the issues with the current system a lot already and I won't repeat all that here. Just remember this; Capitalism is Socialism for the rich and the corporations! It's time for the middle class in this country to rise up and take back all of the handouts to the rich that were put into place by the Republicans going all the way back to Regan! A great first start would be to pass this health-care reform bill and begin the process of curbing health insurance company abuses.

One of the things I hear from my conservative friends is that this bill doesn't even go into effect for 4 years. This is a place where I tend to agree with them. However, there are some things that do go into effect much sooner, and I think it's worth pointing those out here. Here's a list of things that will take effect in the first year:

1. Eliminating caps: If you buy a policy, a health care company will not be able to place a lifetime -- or annual -- cap on how much they will cover. This is will be especially important for those diagnosed with serious illnesses, such as cancer, who face steep medical bills.
   
2. Pre-existing conditions: The Senate bill includes $5 billion in immediate support to provide temporary coverage to uninsured Americans with pre-existing conditions. (risk pools) The money would help you until the new health care exchanges in the Senate bill are put into effect in 2014.
   
3. Children and pre-existing conditions: Another thing that's going to be very important is that there will be no exclusion of children with pre-existing conditions. This takes effect as soon as the President signs the bill.
   
4. Dependent children: Your children will be covered until the age of 26. Children who are over 21 and may not have a job that pays their health insurance can still be on your policy
   
5. Small business tax credits: Those tax credits are aimed at helping small businesses buy health insurance for their employees. Tax credits of up to 50 percent of premiums will be available to firms that offer coverage, according to the Senate's plan.
   
6. Preventive care: All new insurance plans, will be required to offer free preventive care in order to "catch preventable illnesses and diseases on the front end."
   
7. Appeals process: A new independent appeals process will be set up for those who feel that they were unfairly denied a claim by their insurance company.
   
8. Help for seniors: If you fall into the Medicare Part D Drug Benefit coverage gap, dubbed the "donut hole," you will receive $250 to help pay for prescriptions.
   

All of the above will go into effect within one year of the bill being passed. There are some really good things there, even if it doesn't go far enough. Here's a list some of the things that are in the current bill that take a bit longer to go into effect:

1. New health insurance subsidies would be provided to families of four making up to $88,000 annually, or 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
   
2. Health insurance exchanges would be created to make it easier for small businesses, the self-employed and the unemployed to pool resources and purchase less expensive coverage just like congress has today.
   
3. Total out-of-pocket expenses would be limited, and insurance companies would be prevented from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. Insurers would be barred from canceling coverage for sick people, as well as charging higher premiums based on a person's gender or medical history.
   
4. Insurers would be required to provide coverage for non-dependent children up to age 26.
   
5. The Medicare prescription drug "doughnut hole" would be closed by 2020. Under current law, Medicare stops covering drug costs after a plan and beneficiary have spent more than $2,830 on prescription drugs. It starts paying again after an individual's out-of-pocket expenses exceed $4,550.
   
6. A 40 percent tax would be imposed on insurance companies providing "Cadillac" health plans valued at more than $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. The tax would kick in in 2018.
   
7. The Medicare tax would be imposed on investment income for individuals making over $200,000 and couples making over $250,000.
   
8. The federal government would assist states by picking up 100 percent of the costs of expanded Medicaid coverage between 2014 and 2016, and 90 percent starting in 2020.
   
9. Individuals would be required to purchase coverage or face a fine of up to $695 or 2.5 percent of income, whichever is greater, starting in 2016. The plan includes a hardship exemption for poorer Americans.
   
10. Companies with more than 50 employees would be required to pay a fee of $2,000 per worker if the company does not provide coverage and any of that company's workers receives federal health care subsidies. The first 30 workers would be subtracted from the payment calculation.
    
11. States could choose whether to ban abortion coverage in plans offered in the health insurance exchanges. Individuals purchasing plans through the exchanges would have to pay for abortion coverage from their own funds.
    
12. Illegal immigrants would not be allowed to buy health insurance in the health insurance exchanges.
    

So, can someone explain to me how any of the above is a "government takeover of health-care" as the conservatives like to scream about? All we are going is putting some reasonable regulations on the health-insurance companies, and ensuring that everyone has reasonable access to health-care insurance. The CBO report issued today also shows that this bill pays for itself, and actually reduces the deficit by 130 billion in the first 10 years.

As I've said time and again, I don't think that all of the problems we have with our health-care system are going to get solved until we remove the profit motive from the system. That means going to a single payer system and eliminating the for profit private health-care insurance companies entirely. But this bill doesn't provide for that, so I have to settle for what I can get, which is a very modest reform to the system that's better than nothing.