In his latest EC from DC column, Fifth District Congressman Emanuel Cleaver explains how the health care legislation passed this week will help Americans:
When I was a young man, I participated in the civil rights movement, and felt like I contributed to passage of landmark legislation that fundamentally made our nation more fair, just and equitable. This week I was able to participate directly, in the passage of a measure that will rank along side those great laws of civil justice.
Despite the acrimony, the animosity and anxiety and in an environment of vitriol and venom the likes of which I have not seen in decades, I proudly voted Sunday to make health care in America a right, not a privilege. For over 100 years, since Teddy Roosevelt was in the Oval Office, our government has attempted to secure this right for its people. This week, we joined the rest of the industrialized world in stating clearly: basic health of all our citizens is an issue of equity. In the greatest country on earth, the difference between living and dying will no longer be determined by the size of your wallet.
There were those who said that the sun would not rise Monday after the vote and that the End Times would be upon us if this bill became law. I have rarely heard the Book of Revelations quoted so often. But, we have seen this kind of demagoguery before. Many predicted ruin if slaves were freed of their shackles. Men in Congress predicted the extinction of the nation should women be allowed to vote. And in my lifetime, in the not so distant past, there are those who believed that extending equal rights to all Americans regardless of color would destroy the republic.
This new law of the land will help far more than it hurts, will right many wrongs left for generations and represents a responsible way to care for our people and reduce costs. The world did not end upon passage, and I believe Americans will look back on this legislation as an achievement alongside Social Security and Medicare. As Dr. King said, “the arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice.” This week we bent the arc a little more.
Grand talk of history aside, many Americans are trying to cut through the chatter and punditry and get to the substance of reform with a simple question: "What does health insurance reform actually mean for me?" To help, I would like to pass along this list of some key benefits every American should know.
Let's start with how health insurance reform will expand and strengthen coverage:
This year, children with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied health insurance coverage. Once the new health insurance exchanges begin in the coming years, pre-existing condition discrimination will become a thing of the past for everyone.
This year, health care plans will allow young people to remain on their parents' insurance policy up until their 26th birthday.
This year, insurance companies will be banned from dropping people from coverage when they get sick, and they will be banned from implementing lifetime caps on coverage. This year, restrictive annual limits on coverage will be banned for certain plans. Under health insurance reform, Americans will be ensured access to the care they need.
This year, adults who are uninsured because of pre-existing conditions will have access to affordable insurance through a temporary, subsidized high-risk pool.
In the next fiscal year, the bill increases funding for community health centers, like Swope and Sam Rodgers Health Centers, so they can treat nearly double the number of patients over the next five years.
This year, we'll also establish an independent commission to advise on how best to build the health care workforce and increase the number of nurses, doctors and other professionals to meet our country's needs. Going forward, we will provide $1.5 billion in funding to support the next generation of doctors, nurses and other primary care practitioners -- on top of a $500 million investment from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Health insurance reform will also curb some of the worst insurance industry practices and strengthen consumer protections:
This year, this bill creates a new, independent appeals process that ensures consumers in new private plans have access to an effective process to appeal decisions made by their insurer.
This year, discrimination based on salary will be outlawed. New group health plans will be prohibited from establishing any eligibility rules for health care coverage that discriminate in favor of higher-wage employees.
Beginning this fiscal year, this bill provides funding to states to help establish offices of health insurance consumer assistance in order to help individuals in the process of filing complaints or appeals against insurance companies.
Starting January 1, 2011, insurers in the individual and small group market will be required to spend 80 percent of their premium dollars on medical services. Insurers in the large group market will be required to spend 85 percent of their premium dollars on medical services. Any insurers who don't meet those thresholds will be required to provide rebates to their policyholders.
Starting in 2011, this bill helps states require insurance companies to submit justification for requested premium increases. Any company with excessive or unjustified premium increases may not be able to participate in the new health insurance exchanges.
Reform immediately begins to lower health care costs for American families and small businesses:
This year, small businesses that choose to offer coverage will begin to receive tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums to help make employee coverage more affordable.
This year, new private plans will be required to provide free preventive care: no co-payments and no deductibles for preventive services. And beginning January 1, 2011, Medicare will do the same.
This year, this bill will provide help for early retirees by creating a temporary re-insurance program to help offset the costs of expensive premiums for employers and retirees age 55-64.
This year, this bill starts to close the Medicare Part D 'donut hole' by providing a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who hit the gap in prescription drug coverage. And beginning in 2011, the bill institutes a 50% discount on prescription drugs in the 'donut hole.'
This is a good law for America and moves us closer to the ideal of our forefathers written so many years ago: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
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