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Health Care Reform |
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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Along with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (signed March 30), the Act is a product of the health care reform efforts of the Democratic 111th Congress and the Obama administration.The law includes health-related provisions to take effect over the next four years, including... |
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Expanding Medicaid eligibility for people making up to 133% of the federal poverty level (FPL) |
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Subsidizing insurance premiums for people making up to 400% of the FPL ($88,000 for family of 4 in 2010) so their maximum "out-of-pocket" payment for annual premiums will be from 2% to 9.8% of income |
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Providing incentives for businesses to provide health care benefits |
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Prohibiting denial of coverage and denial of claims based on pre-existing conditions |
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Establishing health insurance exchanges |
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Prohibiting insurers from establishing annual coverage caps |
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Support for medical research |
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The costs of these provisions are offset by a variety of taxes, fees, and cost-saving measures, such as... |
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New Medicare taxes for those in high-income brackets |
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Taxes on indoor tanning |
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Cuts to the Medicare Advantage program in favor of traditional Medicare |
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Fees on medical devices and pharmaceutical companies |
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There is also a tax penalty for those who do not obtain health insurance, unless they are exempt due to low income or other reasons |
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The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the net effect of both laws will be a reduction in the federal deficit by $143 billion over the first decade. |
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Federal Cobra Subsidy |
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Several lawmakers are in the news introducing legislation to extend the Federal Cobra Subsidy under ARRA. Under the new Senate bill S. 2730, proposed by Senator Brown, D-Ohio and Senator Casey, D-Pennsylvania, the current nine month subsidy would extend by six months to 15 months, and the current 65 percent subsidy would be increased to 75 percent. Also, the bill would extend the cutoff date to be eligible to receive the subsidy to June 30, 2010.
Because of the odd wording of the current law, workers who are involuntarily terminated say on December 15, 2009 but their insurance carrier covers them until the end of the month, December 31, 2009, will not be eligible for the subsidy. The first day of their eligibility for the subsidy would be January 1, 2010 and since the current law ends on December 31, 2009, they would not be entitled to any assistance.
The House also presented a similar bill in October. The House requested an extension of the Federal Cobra Subsidy but asked to keep the subsidy amount at 65 percent. - Hopefully, a bill will pass soon or we will see many laid off workers unable to provide health insurance for their families. Stay tuned... |
