Saturday, March 6, 2010

Health Care Reform

The pending health reform legislation will help keep insurance premiums affordable for America’s families.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that, under the Senate bill, premiums will fall by as much as 3 percent in the large group market and 2 percent in the small group market.5 Most significantly, premium costs will be subsidized on a sliding-scale basis for middle-class families if their incomes are below 400 percent of the federal poverty level ($88,200 in annual income for a family of four in 2010). The legislation also requires insurers to spend a reasonable share of premiums on actually delivering care (instead of on administration and profits), and it enables the Secretary of Health and Human Services to intervene to prevent unreasonable premium hikes.
Failure to act on meaningful reform means out-of-pocket health care costs will keep rising, and medical costs will continue to be a major cause of debt and bankruptcies, even for those with health insurance.
While premiums are rising, families are receiving less coverage for their premium dollars. Policies have higher deductibles and copayments, and they cover fewer services.6 If health reform is not adopted, this trend will continue. Medical costs will be an increasing burden for the insured and uninsured alike.

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