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| April 02,2010: Summary of Partial Fixes to the US Health Care Insurance Crisis |
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After much political back and forth horse trading, the Federal government in the US has come up with watered down incomplete fix to the healthcare insurance crisis in the US.
The following is a summary of the legislation, as provided by CanAm Financial LLC: IMMEDIATE FIXES: 2010: · SMALL BUSINESSES: Tax credits start flowing to businesses with fewer than 50 employees, covering 35% of premiums, to help them afford coverage. By 2014, that will rise to 50%. · SENIORS: They get a $250 rebate to help fill the "doughnut hole" in Medicare drug coverage. · YOUNG ADULTS: Children permitted to stay on their parents' insurance policies until their 27th birthday. NOTE: children must be on their parents plan by age 19 (they cannot be added later) and they must be a dependent (not married). · PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS: Insurance companies barred from denying benefits to children with pre-existing illness that they make an offer of coverage to. NOTE:the current law reads that children can still be denied a new policy and therefore would have to go in the state risk pool. Adults are not covered for all pre-existing conditions until 2014. · NO LIMITS ON COVERAGE: Insurers can't place lifetime caps on benefits any longer. · PREVENTIVE CARE: New private plans will have to cover checkups and other preventive services with no co-pays. By 2018, all plans must comply. · NO MORE RESCISSIONS. Effective immediately, you can't lose your insurance because you get sick. However, you can still be canceled for a material misrepresentation on your application. 2011: · HEALTH CARE COMPANIES KICK IN: Drugmakers pony up new fees, starting at $2.7 billion. Insurance and medical-device providers follow in 2013. 2013: · TAXES: Medicare payroll taxes increase - from a rate of 1.45% to 2.35% - for singles earning more than $200,000 a year and families above $250,000. 2014: · This is when all Americans will feel the bill's impact - in their wallets, if not elsewhere. · INDIVIDUAL MANDATE: Almost everyone will be required to get insurance or face a fine - $95 in 2014, $325 in 2015 and $695 in 2016 (with a maximum of $2,250 for a family). There is an exemption for low-income people. · EMPLOYER MANDATE: Businesses with 50 or more employees must offer insurance or pay a $2,000-per-worker penalty. · HEALTH CARE EXCHANGES: These new state-based marketplaces should be open for business, giving individuals and small businesses a place to shop for affordable insurance . · SUBSIDIES: To help pay for insurance, the feds will offer subsidies to families making as much as $88,000 a year. Out-of-pocket spending will be tied to a person's income and kept as low as $1,000. 2018: · TAX ON HIGH-COST HEALTH PLANS: A 40% excise tax will be slapped on high-cost "Cadillac" plans starting in 2018. 2020: · Benefits that began to close Medicare's "doughnut hole" for prescription drugs in 2010 will finally complete the job in 2020. Further information is available from the authors of the summary: Raymond A. J. Digby, B.Math Managing Director AmCan Financial LLC 39111 W. Six Mile Road, Suite 117 Livonia, MI 48152 734-591-3244, office 734-591-3269, fax 734-846-7010, cell |
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