This summer, a number of consumers complained to me they didn’t know what was being proposed in health care reform.
I suggested they read the bills that were beginning to come out of House committees. I also offered a list of consumer organizations that are working on health care and providing information.
Now things are getting exciting. A bill has passed the House of Representatives.
The Affordable Health Care for America Act, HR 3962, includes these measures, reports The Washington Post article “What’s in the House Bill”:
- An individual mandate that would require people to buy health insurance. An employer mandate that would require companies to cover their employees, though small businesses would be exempted.
- Funding to create insurance exchanges to serve people who don’t have employer coverage.
- A government insurance option to compete with private plans on the exchange.
- Subsidies to help households earning up to $88,000 in annual income for a family of four purchase coverage.
- A historic Medicaid expansion that would provide free health care to all Americans with incomes below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
- Up to $400 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts, including to a Medicare Advantage managed-care program that serves nearly 11 million seniors.
- A surcharge on taxpayers who earn more than $500,000 a year, or $1 million a year for families.
- A crackdown on the insurance industry, including bans on lifetime limits, premium disparity based on health status and sex, and coverage denials based on preexisting conditions. The bill also would end a federal antitrust exemption that has for decades protected firms from federal investigations.
Be sure to let your senators know your view on health care reform and whether the above provisions meet your needs. You can also work with the groups listed in my post.
Although an important first step has been taken with the passage of House bill, there are two more steps: (1) passage of a bill by the Senate and (2) a conference committee that will reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of health care bills.
Here are other articles analyzing the House bill:
“House Health Care Vote: Breaking Updates” – The Huffington Post
“Health Care Reform Bill Passes House – What’s in It?” – The Consumerist
“Health Care Reform and You” – AARP
If you want to read HR 3962, go to thomas.loc.gov. Be sure to read the amendments, too, which are included in a separate file.
