How Can The New Healthcare Law Directly Benefit Me?
We’ve talked about the basics of the new Affordable Care Act (ACA) that was enacted in 2010. And the new the mandated health insurance requirements that are set to go into effect on October 1, 2013 for plan year beginning January 1, 2014. But, we haven’treally talked about how the healthcare law could directly benefit you.
I am not going to discuss the new mandated health insurance exchange (also known as an insurance marketplace) here as we’ve done that in a previous blogs. The focus will be on several areas of the ACA that will definitely change the current health insurance markets as we know it: increasing access to healthcare, making care more affordable, strengthening Medicare, and holding insurance companies more accountable. Below is a brief overview of how the ACA will increase access to affordable care for all legal Americans. We’ll talk about the other areas in separate blogs.
Coverage for young adults: Since 2010, millions of young adults who were previously uninsured have now gained coverage by being able to stay on their parent’s health plan until the age of 26 – living at home… or not, going to school…or not, married…or not, thereby giving themselves and families peace of mind.
Access to free preventive services: Millions of additional Americans will receive coverage through their private health insurance plan for many preventive services such as such as blood pressure and cholesterol tests, mammograms, colonoscopies, screenings for osteoporosis and more. This also includes coverage for vaccines (i.e. measles, mumps, rubella, influenza, Hepatitis A and B) and new preventative benefits for women (i.e. anemia testing, mammography, gestational diabetes) without co-pays or deductibles. Wellness visits, cancer screenings and other services will help Americans get healthy and stay healthy.
Coverage for people with pre-existing conditions: Millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions have gained coverage through the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP). This temporary program makes health coverage available and more affordable for individuals who are uninsured and have been denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. Beginning in plan year 2014, the PCIP will no longer be available but by then Americans, regardless of their health status or pre-existing conditions – will have access to quality, affordable coverage
Investing in primary care: With more and more Americans going to be able to afford healthcare insurance the need for more doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers will definitely need to increase. The ACA is investing in training and supporting thousands of new primary care doctors and nurses by providing bonus payments, scholarships and loan repayment, and new training opportunities.
Community Health Centers: Community Health Centers improve the health of the nation and assure access to primary health care services at thousands of service sites around the country. Since the beginning of 2009, health centers have increased the total number of patients served on an annual basis by 3.1 million. These community health centers consist of a network of sites (hospitals, health centers, and clinics) providing preventive and primary care to millions of Americans for free or on a sliding scale based on patient’s income.
So, you can see that adjustments in overall insurance requirements can have the potential for huge benefits to individuals, families, young, old, students, businessmen and retires, pretty much everyone in the United States.
*See Healthcare.gov for additional information
