Happy 6 Month Anniversary of Health Care Reform: Time to Celebrate New Protections and Benefits for All

By -
On Thursday, September 23, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act celebrates its 6 month anniversary. This is an anniversary that marks the start of numerous provisions to help Americans of all ages.

Below are some of the major provisions that will give millions of Americans access to reliable, high quality medical care, while keeping costs down:

  • Children through out the country are denied coverage every year. On September 23, insurance companies will be prohibited from denying coverage to children under 19 because they have a pre-existing condition.
  • Insurance companies have been able to retroactively cancel a policy when the insured person becomes sick if there was an unintended mistake on insurance paperwork. On September 23, insurance companies will be prohibited from rescinding coverage for individuals and groups of people, except in the case of fraud.
  • Individuals with expensive medical bills due to chronic diseases commonly reach their lifetime limits of their policy. Once the lifetime limit is reached, the policy is revoked and it is the responsibility of the insured person to pay all future medical expenses. On September 23, insurance companies will be prohibited from including lifetime limits in all health plans issued or renewed after this date.
  • Plans issued on or after September 23 must include guidelines for not only an internal but also an external appeals process. If an insurance company denies a claim the policy holder can appeal the decision to an external reviewer not employed by the insurance company.
  • Many parents and youth worry about the day that they will no longer be able to remain on their parent’s insurance. On September 23, youth will be able to remain on their parent’s insurance plan until they turn 26.
  • Many Americans put off visiting their doctor at the first signs of an illness or issue or even for routine exams. All plans offered on or after September 23 must give policy holders free preventative care including annual check-ups, mammograms, depression screening, vaccinations for children, and many more.

For more information about these and other provisions, please visit Pennsylvania Health Access Network’s website.

Image courtesy of:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Overlooked and Undercounted: Struggling to Make Ends Meet in Pennsylvania

By -
Image
Census data tells us that 13% of Pennsylvania households live in poverty. In reality, even more households don’t have the income they need to reach self-sufficiency. One in four Pennsylvania households – over 846,000 – lack enough income to cover just the necessities. Since 1997, PathWays PA has worked with Dr. Diana Pearce and the University of Washington to calculate  The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Pennsylvania . Over the last 23 years,  The Self-Sufficiency Standard of Pennsylvania  has documented the continuing increase in the real cost of living, illuminating the economic crunch experienced by so many families today. Since 2010, PathWays PA and the University of Washington have also issued three versions of the  Overlooked and Undercounted  report, which looks at the number of households living above and below self-sufficiency. You can now use the interactive materials below to find out what it takes to be self-sufficient in your county. Click ...
Read more

Mini-Budget Update-Supporting the American Community Survey

By MB -
Image
(via The Census Project ) Next Tuesday, June 19 is an important date to mark on your calendar. The Congressional Joint Economic Committee is holding a public hearing on the economic impact of eliminating the American Community Survey (ACS) at 2:30 p.m., in Room 210 of the Canon House Office Building. Witnesses that will be speaking in opposition to the move to eliminate the ACS are Vincent Barabba, former director of the Census Bureau in two GOP administrations and Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Association of General Contractors and also representing the National Association of Business Economists. It is very important that we pack the congressional hearing room! If you cannot come, please urge your colleages to come. If you represent a non-DC organization contact your friends in Washington and urge them to attend. Also on Tuesday of next week some of our congressional supporters will be holding a noon press conference in the so-called House Triangle right outside the Cap...
Read more

Overlooked and Undercounted in the Media (#media)

By MB -
Image
Below are all of the places we've seen Overlooked and Undercounted in the month of May! If you know of anywhere else, please let us know! You can also listen to the audio from our May 11 Conference Call on our website . May 21, 2009 - New Report Says 1 in 5 PA Families Live in Poverty May 21, 2009 - LTE: Clarifying ‘Overlooked And Undercounted’ Study May 19, 2009 - Caught in a trap: State and federal governments must help working poor May 16, 2009 - Study: Local poverty estimates too conservative May 15, 2009 - Study: Pa. Families Above Poverty Level, But Still Struggling May 12, 2009 - Study: 1 in 5 PA Families Struggling to Make Ends Meet May 12, 2009 - Report: Many PA families struggling May 12, 2009 - PathWays PA Releases New Report on Self-Sufficiency Standard May 12, 2009 - Poverty worse in PA than reported: study May 11, 2009 - 1 in 5 PA Households Can't Make Ends Meet May 11, 2009 - Study: 1 in 5 PA residents can't make ends meet May 11, 2009 - 1 in...
Read more