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A demographic that health care reform seeks to take care of is composes of senior citizens and retirees, and for those who already belong to this category – or are going in that direction – it will be interesting to find out what they will expect.
FavStocks.com provides information about aspects of the health care reform law that will impact senior citizens. We have discussed some of them in previous posts, such as being able to receive rebates on prescription drugs, the gradual closing of the coverage gap and the fact that health care coverage will now be compulsory.
In addition, there will be new rates for Medicare taxes, and these Medicare taxes will not be deducted from IRAs, pensions, 401Ks and other retirement plans. Then, the medical deduction allowance will be increased to 10 percent of the annual gross income of the individual by year 2013, and starting in 2013 until 2016, senior citizens aged 65 and older as well as their spouses will be exempted. Health care reform will also bring added protection to those who will purchase life insurance, as insurers will no longer be allowed to deny applicants by year 2014.
According to a post on SecondAct.com, retirees will need to be ready for changes in their health care benefits over the next few years. Due to rising health care costs, there are employers that have begun to cut back on benefits or did away with retiree coverage altogether. Since the new health care law repeals the tax breaks that previously encouraged employers to provide coverage, more employers will probably opt to move retirees to Part D.
Despite all the criticism and lawsuits hurled against health care reform by Republicans and other critics, there are those who truly believe that health care reform will bring good to the uninsured.
A report released by Families USA focuses on how the new health care law will be able to help about 1.3 million in Tennessee, according to a medical news feature on TriCities.com. The report is entitled “Health Reform: A Closer Look – Help for Tennesseans with Pre-existing Conditions.”
The figure of 1.3 million represents residents of Tennessee under the age of 65 who are suffering from pre-existing medical conditions. In the pre-health care reform era, these citizens find it hard to get health care coverage, and when they do, they are usually charged more than an arm and a leg for it.
With the advent of health care reform, however, this portion of the Tennessee population will be provided with more options in terms of health care. Tony Garr, the executive director of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, had this to say: “Historic health reform cannot come too soon. This new report supports what a great number of Tennessee families have always known: don’t get sick or you may not be able to afford the quality care you need. Starting this year, Tennesseans with pre-existing medical conditions will have better options.”
The Tennessee Health Care Campaign has long worked towards providing those who are deemed “uninsurable” with fair health care coverage. It is therefore not surprising that they are supportive and satisfied about the provisions included in the new health care law.
Health care reform and its goal of ensuring health care coverage most – if not all – Americans will entail the expansion of Medicaid, the state-run health insurance program for the poor. A feature on Stateline.org shares how the expansion of Medicaid will work.
States are supposed to place the level of Medicaid eligibility to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. To those states that are already generous as it is in terms of its Medicaid programs, this will not be that big of a change. Among the states that already set their eligibility cut-off point above that level are Connecticut, Maine and New York.
This does not mean, however, that these states will not have additional costs; while they may not spend as much on expansion itself, they will need to shell out money for the projected increase in enrollment.
For those that do not, however, the expansion of Medicaid will have its associated costs. Long story short, in order to ensure coverage for more people, these states will have to spend more.
The health care law, according to the feature, has taken this fact into consideration and has come up with a financing scheme to help states that will need to spend more on Medicaid moving forward. From the year 2014 to 2016, the federal government will take care of expansion related costs. This aid will then taper off to the federal government paying for 10 percent by year 2020. The amount of federal aid will depend on how generous the state already is; those that are already generous as it is will start out with lower federal aid.
The overhaul of the health care system has received a lot of criticism, but there are those who think the opposite and believe that there is good to be enjoyed out of this law. A feature on the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder shares the opinion of Stella Whitney-West, CEO of NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center: “I applaud President Obama and the Democratic Party that really took a huge political risk in pushing this through.”
NorthPoint’s clientele consist of about 82% people of color, and she said that having the health care reform law will help 10 to 20 percent of their population. She believes that the law will help everyone across the board, but will especially be helpful to low-income families. She adds that the law will allow African Americans and people of color to have health insurance that will enable them to seek primary care. The provision in the law for preventive care will also help, according to Whitney-West.
She predicts that with the law, the cost of prescription drugs will go down: “For a lot of people, medication is out of their reach because of the cost. I think it is going to have a major impact.”
Whitney-West is concerned about what she termed as “scare tactics” used by those opposed to health care reform. One point of contention is the possibility of using federal funding for abortions; this is not true according to Whitney-West. As for the cost of the overhaul, Whitney-West said: “The reality is that when you have people who are uninsured and they need access to health care in emergency rooms, all of the taxpayers pay for that. Now we are getting a much better return for our tax dollars, and we are getting a healthier community.”
On top of trying to ensure that more Americans are provided with health care coverage, officials of the Obama administration are saying that health care reform will address yet another concern: medical fraud.
According to a feature on Kaiser Health News, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder both spoke about this advantage of health care reform during a news conference on Thursday.
The new health care law will provide funding over the next decade intended to fight fraud, and shared that a portion of the estimated $350 million budget will be allocated for the purpose of hiring personnel to check on Medicare and Medicaid advisers as well as to weed out and look into schemes. With the new law, those who are caught committing fraud will face tougher punishments.
Sebelius declared that “the days when you could just hang out a shingle and start submitting claims are over,” sharing that medical providers, doctors included, will be subjected to such things as background checks before they are allowed to bill Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Citizens are also encouraged to be on the lookout for scams; the example provided was to watch out for people who offer medical equipment for free – and then ask for a Medicare number.
Attorney General Holder shared that the Health Care Prevention and Enforcement Action Teams have been successful thus far in fighting fraud. He pointed out that as of last year more than a thousand health fraud investigations began, and there have been 800 indictments and close to 600 convictions so far.
Despite various criticisms hurled against it by its detractors, health care reform does have its benefits, some of which are more appreciable when localized at the state level. A special report on the Democratic Policy Committee website shares these benefits, which we will in turn share with you, starting with California.
At the national level, health care reform is expected to reduce health care cost deficit by $143 billion over a span of ten years, with more reduction to deficit expected in the succeeding ten years. HR 3590 is also expected to make health care more affordable to the middle class and ensure that senior citizens – who perhaps need health care the most – are provided with health security. The cost of health care coverage will also be reduced further through the provision of tax credits for small businesses and individuals.
More than nine million children in the state of California will be assured that they will not be discriminated against as far as health coverage is concerned because of pre-existing conditions. Starting this year, insurance companies will no longer be allowed to deny coverage using pre-existing conditions as a reason.
In addition, almost four million young adults can continue to stay on their parents’ insurance plans, at least until the age of 26. Another advantage that was mentioned was the creation of jobs, as businesses will find it more profitable to expand employment as the growth rate of health care costs is slowed down.
Californians are also assured that community health centers will be on hand to provide critical health care regardless of their ability to pay, as health care reform will be able to invest in the federally-funded health centers in California.
