Just consider the progress that wouldn’t have been made if Republicans in Congress had had their way and defeated the health law on behalf of their big insurance company donors two years ago. 2.5 million young adults would not have coverage today under their parent’s plan. 5.1 million Medicare beneficiaries would have paid an average of $635 more for their prescription drugs and all beneficiaries would not have access to preventive services like free mammograms. Insurance companies would still be free today to deny care to sick kids simply by citing the soulless words “pre-existing condition.” Insurance companies would still be allowed to stick it to consumers with unreasonable premiums hikes of 10, 20 or even 30 percent without being held accountable. But let's talk about what's really at stake for America. The Senate health reform bill will: -- Extend coverage to 31 million Americans, the largest expansion of coverage since the creation of Medicare. -- Ensure that you can choose your own doctor. -- Finally stop insurance companies from denying coverage due to a pre-existing condition. -- Make sure you will never be charged exorbitant premiums on the basis of your age, health, or gender. -- Guarantee you will never lose your coverage just because you get sick or injured. -- Protect you from outrageous out-of-pocket expenditures by establishing lifetime and annual limits. -- Allow young people to stay on their parents' coverage until they're 26 years old. -- Create health insurance exchanges, or "one-stop shops" for individuals purchasing insurance, where insurance companies are forced to compete for new customers. -- Lower premiums for families, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office -- especially for struggling folks who will receive subsidies. -- Help small businesses provide health care coverage to their employees with tax credits and by allowing them to purchase coverage through the exchanges. -- Improve and strengthen Medicare by eliminating waste and fraud (without cutting basic benefits), beginning to close the Medicare Part D donut hole, and extending the life of the Medicare trust fund. -- Create jobs by reining in costs -- fostering competition, reducing waste and inefficiency, and starting to reward doctors and hospitals for quality, not quantity, of care. - Cut the deficit by over $130 billion in the next 10 years. Insurance companies earn enormous returns for their chairmen and shareholders, becoming successful by insuring only healthy people while rescinding coverage once a person becomes ill. As more and more people have become uninsured or discovered that they don't have enough insurance to cover their medical expenses and go bankrupt, insurers have grown richer.
Posted by JANMB