Score one, two, three… I count eight for the everyday American, and this summary doesn’t cover all of the changes you will see.
For millions of Americans, six long months of waiting come to an end today as the health care bill finally takes effect (as reported by the New York Times here and the Washington Post here). In the past, the health care sector (much like the financial sector) has victimized innocent, unknowing citizens through unexpected fees, unfair fine print and severe lack of consumer recourse. The health care legislation will bring an end to the most nefarious of these practices.
For your convenience, I have compiled a list of the basic changes you can expect in the health care realm:
- Your child can now stay on your coverage until he or she reaches age 26;
- Your child may not be denied treatment for a preexisting condition;
- In an emergency, you may visit the closest emergency room regardless of your coverage (appalling that was not the standard already, huh?);
- You may now choose your own doctor (again, how was this not already status quo?);
- Your insurance provider’s ability to retroactively cancel your policy due to so-called “fraud” on your application is far more difficult due to a fortified policy cancellation standard;
- You may now appeal a denial of coverage by your insurance company to an independent arbiter for review;
- Insurance companies may not place a lifetime limit on coverage; and
- Over the next three years, the annual limit will be phased out of all health plans and eventually disallowed entirely.
Score one, two, three… I count eight for the everyday American, and this summary doesn’t cover all of the changes you will see. It is certainly a day to celebrate, but we must also ensure that the parts of the plan needing oversight – denial of preexisting conditions, retroactive cancellation, and the appeals process – are truly governed and enforced. The next step is to give the bill teeth, but for today let us raise our glasses, this time without fear of throwing out a shoulder.
Assisted by David Martin