Health Care initiatives in the world of the unemployed

Best summary Ive seen, remember the (reconciliation) bill has to go to the Senate where it will face many procedural and parlimentary challanges. If the Senate changes just one comma it will have to go to the House for another vote. Even if it succeeds it will likely face court challanges for several aspects, most notable being the "individual mandate"

The Prez is supposed to sign this legislation on Tuesday, then it (the orginal Senate bill) will become law. This begins the reconciliation process descrbed above. This summary does not highlight the ~$470B in tax increases that go along with this .



When health care bill’s provisions would take affect

Here are the effective dates of major provisions of the health care overhaul legislation now being considered in Congress:

Within a year

Would provide a $250 rebate this year to Medicare prescription drug beneficiaries whose initial benefits run out.

90 days after enactment

Would provide immediate access to high-risk pools for people with no insurance because of pre-existing conditions.

Six months after enactment

1.Would bar insurers from denying people coverage when they get sick.
2.Would bar insurers from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions.
3.Would bar insurers from imposing lifetime caps on coverage.
4.Would require insurers to allow people to stay on their parents’ policies until they turn 26.
2011

Would require individual and small group market plans to spend 80 percent of premium dollars on medical services. Large group plans would have to spend at least 85 percent.

2013

Would increase the Medicare payroll tax and expand it to dividend, interest and other unearned income for singles earning more than $200,000 and joint filers making more than $250,000.

2014

1.Would provide subsidies for families earning up to 400 percent of poverty level, currently about $88,000 a year, to purchase health insurance.
2.Would require most employers to provide coverage or face penalties.
3.Would require most people to obtain coverage or face penalties.
2018

Would impose a 40 percent excise tax on high-end insurance policies.

2019

Would expand health insurance coverage to 32 million people.

SOURCES: Speaker of the House, Congressional Budget Office, Kaiser Family Foundation

A good timeline summary of the Health Care bill, interesting that the scantimonious proclimation of eliminating "pre-existing" conditions doesnt take effect to 2014. (I wonder what the hurry was of ramming this thru the Congress the way they did if they arent going to mandate this stuff for 4 years ) This also means children with pre-existing conditions cant take advantage of the law either until 2014.

In the words of our illustrious Vice President "big FF****ing deal"



http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/23/MN531CJKCG.DTL

So much for lowering costs. The issue here is the tax break is being recinded for companies offering prescription drugs to their retirees (scripts seems like a benefit that ought to be encouraged) . Id hate to be a retiree from one of these companies and read this headline. It would start me thinking about how much longer that my former companie is going to offer the benefit. (Not to mentoin if I owned the company stock in my retirement plan, this expense may lower the dividend payout which will hit me in the wallet)

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/industrials/john-deere-expects--million-hit-healthcare-reform/

Seems to be a lot of hidden costs in a bill that was advertised as lowering them:


http://biggovernment.com/jberlau/2010/03/25/seeing-red-at-reconciliation-over-medicine-cabinet-tax/

A better explaination of the Deere and CAT issues:



Health Care Passed; How will Individuals and Corporations React? Who will Opt Out?


President Obama managed to arm-twist Congress into passing an unpopular healthcare bill. Not a single Republican voted for it.

Supposedly the bill will guarantee coverage of 94% of the US population.

Many corporations complain it will increase costs. For example: Deere says health care law will raise expenses


Deere & Co. said Thursday that changes to the health care law signed into law this week will raise related costs this year by $150 million.

The biggest U.S. maker of farm equipment became the second major company in as many days to say it would take a charge for fiscal 2010.

Deere and Caterpillar were among the 10 companies that sent a letter to Congressional leaders in December warning of cost increases. Others were: Boeing Co., Con-Way Inc., Exelon Corp., Navistar Inc., Verizon, Xerox Corp., Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., and Met Life Inc.

The companies say federal subsidies have covered 28 percent of the cost of retiree prescription drug coverage. The government offered the subsidies so that more companies would continue to offer coverage to retirees and keep them off of government-funded Medicare Part D.

Under the health care reforms passed this week, that subsidy will be taxed starting next year, which the companies predicted could significantly increase government health care costs because companies may drop coverage.

"Taxing the subsidy means that more companies will eliminate or reduce the coverage, and more retirees will shift to Medicare Part D, which will create more cost for both the government and the retirees," the companies wrote in their letter.

Looks like this thing is a jobs bill for India,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100325/wl_csm/290215

Looks like no good deed goes unpunished in Fla


http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100326/ts_csm/290467

This article implies that high deductible health care plans were spared in the Health Care bill that just passed (if true must of been a last minute change in reconciliation as both the House and Senate bills that were passed eliminated them). According to this, even if you are buying insurance from one of the to be established exchanges, you are eligable to utilize a Health Savings Account (HSA) and filter your out of pocket health expenses thru the account for a tax deduction. And you can use this money to pay COBRA premiums (this sounds odd as HSAs until now could NOT be used for insurance premiums, I would verify this before I committed myself to such a program)

According to earlier articles Ive posted, the contribution limit to a HSA will be reduced from $3050 to $2500 (for a single person) and next year you will not be able to purchase over the counter drugs via your HSA account (as you can now) .


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/your-money/health-insurance/27money.html?ref=business