Ten immediate benefits of HCR

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.


http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/what-you-get-when-hcr-passes

I know a ton of people who haven't been to a doctor in years because they can't even afford an office visit.

(K&R, by the way!)

I would really love to see a doctor. I've been untreated for a bunch of thins for years now that I would love to get looked at.

Well fuck.

And, in the absence of HCR, what were you doing for insurance?

still less than 9.5% of income to qualify for subsidies, and I really can't afford the deducts and copays. And this is what is offered by my employer. So what will I do in 4 years, probably beg for the money I need to get my medical care, because it will max out my deducts and maximum out of pocket expenses for whatever year I try to get medical care. I'd still be priced out of medical CARE but at least I can claim on paper than I'm insured! Woohoo, that's exciting. :sarcasm:

insurance cos can just price you out of a policy if they don't like your history.

The only thing that changed is that insurance cos are now quasi federal entities. That's just ducky.

Aren't you tired of doing this $hit yet?

The bill merely requires that insurers extend existing adult-dependent coverage to age 27. Existing adult-dependent coverage usually cuts off by age 25 currently, and has MANY strings attached.

1. The student MUST be either a college student, or financially dependent on the parent.

2. If the young adult files their own taxes, they aren't covered any longer. They MUST be claimed as a dependent on their parents return.

3. If the young adult gets married, the coverage is off.

4. Under many plans, if the young adult has a child, the coverage is off. Even for those that don't cut the adult off, the baby is never covered (health insurance generally only covers grandchildren if the mother is under 18 and living with the grandparents, and universally cuts off on the mothers 18th birthday).

5. Coverage cannot be reinstated if it lapses.

6. Coverage is extended at the sole discretion of the parents, and can be revoked by the parents at any time if they are unwilling or unable to continue paying the premiums.

On top of this, there's another caveat. Health insurers aren't actually required to offer the coverage at all. The legislation states that if they DO offer it, it must be extended through age 26. There's nothing in the bill stopping Blue Cross from announcing tomorrow that they'll no longer be covering dependents over age 18.