Just got this email from Rep. Costello on the healthcare bill. It's a pretty good summary of the contents:
As you know, Congress recently passed and the President signed into law national health care reform legislation. It is expected that this historic law will lower costs, improve coverage and expand access to health care in the 12th Congressional District by:
* Enhancing current coverage for 376,000 residents with health insurance.
* Providing tax credits and other assistance to up to 177,000 families and 12,800 small businesses to help them afford coverage, as well as protecting 1,700 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
* Extending coverage to 28,000 uninsured residents.
* Guaranteeing that 9,000 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.
* Extending the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund until the year 2026.
* Improving benefits for Medicare recipients in our area, such as free preventive and wellness care, superior primary and coordinated care, and better nursing home care.
* Lowering prescription drug costs. In 2010, the 9,800 Medicare beneficiaries in our area who enter the Medicare Part D coverage gap – the so-called “donut hole” – will receive a $250 rebate. Starting in 2011, seniors in the donut hole will receive a 50% discount on brand-name drugs, and the donut hole will be gradually closed.
* Securing millions of dollars in additional funding for our 97 existing community health centers.
* Allowing 61,000 young adults in the district to remain on their parents’ policies until they turn 26.
MYTHS AND FACTS
It is important that people understand how this new law will affect them, particularly as there are a number of false claims circulating about what this legislation does and does not do. Some of the most deceptive myths about health care reform legislation include:
SENIORS
Myth: Health care reform will hurt seniors by cutting Medicare and using that money to provide coverage to the uninsured.
Fact: Nowhere in health care reform legislation are any benefits for seniors cut or limited. Seniors will keep the same Medicare coverage they have right now, but their costs will go down and coverage will improve.
(Sections 3601 and 3602, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, P.L. 111-148)
VETERANS
Myth: Health care reform is bad for veterans and members of the armed services because the legislation will not count TRICARE, TRICARE FOR LIFE, or Veterans’ Health Care as “qualified health benefits packages.”
Fact: Health care reform legislation does not change, alter or impact these three health care plans in any way.
(Section 1501, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, P.L. 111-148; Letter from Tammy Duckworth, Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Department of Veterans Affairs)
SMALL BUSINESSES
Myth: All small businesses will be required to provide health insurance to their employees.
Fact: 96% of all businesses are completely exempt from any taxes or requirements because they have fewer than 50 employees.
(Section 1513, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, P.L. 111-148; U.S. Small Business Administration, "Employer Firms, Establishments, Employment, and Annual Payroll Small Firm Size Classes.")
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Myth: Illegal immigrants or undocumented individuals will be able to receive coverage under the new law.
Fact: No one can receive any benefits under this law or purchase health insurance on the exchanges until they prove their citizenship.
(Section 1411, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, P.L. 111-148)
ABORTION
Myth: The Hyde amendment does not apply to the new law, which means that taxpayer money could be used to pay for abortions.
Fact: The Hyde amendment prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortion applies to the law. In addition, the executive order signed by President Obama and the colloquy on the House floor make it absolutely clear that the Hyde amendment applies and taxpayer money will not be used to pay for abortions.
(Section 1303, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, P.L. 111-148; Executive Order -- Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's Consistency with Longstanding Restrictions on the Use of Federal Funds for Abortion, signed March 24, 2010);
STATES
Myth: The expansion of Medicaid will bankrupt the states, and in Illinois, the state will have to pay $2 billion over 10 years to provide coverage.
Fact: The expansion of Medicaid will not bankrupt the states because the new law requires states to pay only a small portion of the cost of covering these new enrollees. Illinois' Medicaid program estimates its annual costs at $200 million in 2020, when the phased-in costs of expansion are complete. The state's estimated contribution is $560 million over 10 years, less than 1% of Illinois' current Medicaid spending over 10 years (roughly $60 billion).
(Section 1201, Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, P.L. 111-152; Theresa Eagleson, Medicaid Director, Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, quoted in Graham, Judith. "Health Care Bill's Impact on State Will Be Delayed". Chicago Tribune. 31 March 2010. Web. 15 April 2010)
SPECIAL DEALS
Myth: The legislation is packed with special deals for certain states, such as the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisiana Purchase and Gator-Aid.
Fact: There are no state-specific deals or earmarks in the health care reform law.
(Section 1102 and Section 1201, The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, P.L. 111-152)
IRS AGENTS
Myth: The IRS is hiring 16,000 new workers to audit taxpayers regarding health insurance. They will have the authority to seize your property and put you in jail if you do not have insurance.
Fact: The legislation does not require the IRS to hire any new workers. According to the IRS Commissioner, the IRS will not harass, audit or pursue individuals to verify that they have insurance. Insurance companies will report back to the IRS if you have insurance and what it costs, just like the bank reports your interest to the IRS now. Furthermore, health care reform legislation explicitly prohibits the IRS from seizing any property or pursuing any criminal charges against uninsured individuals.
(Section 1501 and 1502 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, P.L. 111-148; Testimony of Douglas Shulman, IRS Commissioner, before the Subcommittee on Oversight of the House Ways and Means Committee, March 25, 2010)
To be certain, health care reform legislation is not perfect. Neither were the bills passed 75 years ago creating Social Security and 45 years ago creating Medicare. Just as adjustments have been made to those programs, changes will need to be made periodically to this one. But most importantly, the United States will join every other developed country in offering health care coverage to its citizens.
For more information about the benefits of health care reform, I encourage you to visit my website at http://costello.house.gov
From the Columbus Dispatch editorial page: "The $575 billion in Medicare reductions that are supposed to help pay for the overhaul are unrealistic. If the cuts are not implemented by Congress, then hundreds of billions of dollars will be added to the national debt.
ReplyDelete"In the extremely unlikely event that Congress allows the Medicare cuts to occur, then 15 percent of hospitals and other care facilities that rely on Medicare reimbursements would become unprofitable, meaning that they might drop Medicare patients.
"This would limit the availability of care for millions of seniors in the Medicare program at a time when doctors and hospitals already will be stretched thin by the addition of millions of other Americans clamoring to use the health insurance the overhaul will provide. (And to quantify the anticipated shortage of doctors, the American Academy of Family Physicians predicts a shortage of 39,000 family physicians by 2020.)
"The report notes that there are many overhaul effects that simply cannot be calculated but that could have a dramatic impact on the cost of medical care.
"For example, by extending Medicaid coverage to 18 million people and offering government subsidies to 16 million others to pay for health insurance, the overhaul will drive up demand for health-care services.
"The report says this increase 'could result in higher total expenditures or in some of this demand being unsatisfied. Alternatively, providers might tend to accept more patients who have private insurance (with relatively attractive payment rates) and fewer Medicare or Medicaid patients, exacerbating existing access problems for Medicaid enrollees.'
"The actuary notes that a new, long-term-care benefit called the CLASS program that was included in the overhaul will become unsustainable in 15 years, and its deficits will be added to the national debt."
For further reading see the analysis from the Office of the Actuary in the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.