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Jun 25 2015

President Obama’s Remarks on ACA Ruling

“We’re making progress.  We’re going to keep working to get more people covered.  I’m going to work as hard as I can to convince more governors and state legislatures to take advantage of the law, put politics aside, and expand Medicaid and cover their citizens.  We’ve still got states out there that, for political reasons, are not covering millions of people that they could be covering, despite the fact that the federal government is picking up the tab.”

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Written by PNM Admin · Categorized: National Democrats, Party News, Video · Tagged: ACA, Affordable Care Act, President Obama

Sep 08 2013

How the ACA Helps Georgians

CLICK HERE FOR ENROLLMENT INFORMATION

Because of the Affordable Care Act, the 80% of Georgians who have insurance have more choices and stronger coverage than ever before. And for the 20% of Georgians who don’t have insurance, or Georgia families and small businesses who buy their coverage but aren’t happy with it, a new day is just around the corner.

Soon, the new online Health Insurance Marketplace will provide families and small businesses who currently don’t have insurance, or are looking for a better deal, a new way to find health coverage that fits their needs and their budgets.

Open enrollment in the Marketplace starts Oct 1, with coverage starting as soon as Jan 1, 2014.  But Georgia families and small business can visit HealthCare.gov right now to find the information they need prepare for open enrollment.

The health care law is already providing better options, better value, better health and a stronger Medicare program to the people of Georgia by:

Better Options
The Health Insurance Marketplace

Beginning Oct 1, the Health Insurance Marketplace will make it easy for Georgians to compare qualified health plans, get answers to questions, find out if they are eligible for lower costs for private insurance or health programs like Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and enroll in health coverage.

By the Numbers: Uninsured Georgians who are eligible for coverage through the Marketplace. 

  • 1,698,881 (20%) are uninsured and eligible
  • 1,167,899 (69%) have a full-time worker in the family
  • 671,466 (40%) are 18-35 years old
  • 789,989 (47%) are White
  • 630,791 (37%) are African American
  • 172,811 (10%) are Latino/Hispanic
  • 70,895 (4%) are Asian American or Pacific Islander
  • 905,417 (53%) are male

1,592,485 (94%) of Georgia’s uninsured and eligible population may qualify for either tax credits to purchase coverage in the Marketplace or for Medicaid if Georgia takes advantage of the new opportunity to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

Georgia has received $1,000,000 in grants for research, planning, information technology development, and implementation of its Health Insurance Marketplace. 

New coverage options for young adults

Under the health care law, if your plan covers children, you can now add or keep your children on your health insurance policy until they turn 26 years old. Thanks to this provision, over 3 million young people who would otherwise have been uninsured have gained coverage nationwide, including 123,000 young adults in Georgia.

Ending discrimination for pre-existing conditions  

As many as 4,323,897 non-elderly Georgians have some type of pre-existing health condition, including 613,253 children.  Today, insurers can no longer deny coverage to children because of a pre-existing condition, like asthma or diabetes, under the health care law. And beginning in 2014, health insurers will no longer be able to charge more or deny coverage to anyone because of a pre-existing condition.  The health care law also established a temporary health insurance program for individuals who were denied health insurance coverage because of a pre-existing condition.  3,726 Georgians with pre-existing conditions have gained coverage through the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan since the program began.

Better Value
Providing better value for your premium dollar through the 80/20 Rule

Health insurance companies now have to spend at least 80 cents of your premium dollar on health care or improvements to care, or provide you a refund.  This means that 247,883 Georgia residents with private insurance coverage will benefit from $15,001,161 in refunds from insurance companies this year, for an average refund of $82 per family covered by a policy.

Scrutinizing unreasonable premium increases 

In every State and for the first time under Federal law, insurance companies are required to publicly justify their actions if they want to raise rates by 10 percent or more. Since implementing the law, the fraction of requests for insurance premium increases of 10 percent or more has dropped dramatically, from 75 percent to 14 percent nationally.  To date, the rate review program has helped save Americans an estimated $1 billion.

Removing lifetime limits on health benefits 

The law bans insurance companies from imposing lifetime dollar limits on health benefits – freeing cancer patients and individuals suffering from other chronic diseases from having to worry about going without treatment because of their lifetime limits. Already, 3,317,000 people in Georgia, including 1,256,000 women and 916,000 children, are free from worrying about lifetime limits on coverage. The law also restricts the use of annual limits and bans them completely in 2014.

Better Health
Covering preventive services with no deductible or co-pay

The health care law requires many insurance plans to provide coverage without cost sharing to enrollees for a variety of preventive health services, such as colonoscopy screening for colon cancer, Pap smears and mammograms for women, well-child visits, and flu shots for all children and adults.

In 2011 and 2012, 71 million Americans with private health insurance gained preventive service coverage with no cost-sharing, including 2,202,000 in Georgia. And for policies renewing on or after August 1, 2012, women can now get coverage without cost-sharing of even more preventive services they need.  Approximately 47 million women, including 1,481,402 in Georgia will now have guaranteed access to additional preventive services without cost-sharing.

Increasing support for community health centers

The health care law increases the funding available to community health centers nationwide. In Georgia, 29 health centers operate 165 sites, providing preventive and primary health care services to 317,299 people.  Health Center grantees in Georgia have received $71,147,340 under the health care law to support ongoing health center operations and to establish new health center sites, expand services, and/or support major capital improvement projects.

Community Health Centers in all 50 states have also received a total of $150 million in federal grants to help enroll uninsured Americans in the Health Insurance Marketplace, including $3,378,206 awarded to Georgia health centers.   With these funds, Georgia health centers expect to hire 62 additional workers, who will assist 100,268 Georgians with enrollment into affordable health insurance coverage.

Investing in the primary care workforce

As a result of historic investments through the health care law and the Recovery Act, the numbers of clinicians in the National Health Service Corps are at all-time highs with nearly 10,000 Corps clinicians providing care to more than 10.4 million people who live in rural, urban, and frontier communities.  The National Health Service Corps repays educational loans and provides scholarships to primary care physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, behavioral health providers, and other primary care providers who practice in areas of the country that have too few health care professionals to serve the people who live there.  As of September 30, 2012, there were 228 Corps clinicians providing primary care services in Georgia, compared to 53 in 2008.

Preventing illness and promoting health

As of March 2012, Georgia had received $18,200,000 in grants from the Prevention and Public Health Fund created by the health care law. This new fund was created to support effective policies in Georgia, its communities, and nationwide so that all Americans can lead longer, more productive lives.

A Stronger Medicare Program
Making prescription drugs affordable for seniors 

In Georgia, people with Medicare saved nearly $198 million on prescription drugs because of the Affordable Care Act.  In 2012 alone, 99,057 individuals in Georgia saved over $73 million, or an average of $732 per beneficiary.  In 2012, people with Medicare in the “donut hole” received a 50 percent discount on covered brand name drugs and 14 percent discount on generic drugs.  And thanks to the health care law, coverage for both brand name and generic drugs will continue to increase over time until the coverage gap is closed.  Nationally, over 6.6 million people with Medicare have saved over $7 billion on drugs since the law’s enactment.

Covering preventive services with no deductible or co-pay

With no deductibles or co-pays, cost is no longer a barrier for seniors and people with disabilities who want to stay healthy by detecting and treating health problems early. In 2012 alone, an estimated 34.1 million people benefited from Medicare’s coverage of preventive services with no cost-sharing.  In Georgia, 742,634 individuals with traditional Medicare used one or more free preventive service in 2012.

Protecting Medicare’s solvency

The health care law extends the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by ten years.  From 2010 to 2012, Medicare spending per beneficiary grew at 1.7 percent annually, substantially more slowly than the per capita rate of growth in the economy.  And the health care law helps stop fraud with tougher screening procedures, stronger penalties, and new technology. Over the last four years, the administration’s fraud enforcement efforts have recovered $14.9 billion from fraudsters.  For every dollar spent on health care-related fraud and abuse activities in the last three years the administration has returned $7.90.

via U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Written by PNM Admin · Categorized: Georgia Democrats, Party News · Tagged: Affordable Care Act, ObamaCare

Jul 08 2012

The Affordable Care Act and Georgia: What it means to us

What does the Affordable Care Act do for me?

  • As a Georgia citizen, you stand to benefit a great deal from the Affordable Care Act. Our state is one of the worst in the nation in many health areas- infant mortality, life expectancy, child obesity rates, and we have one of the largest number of uninsured residents in the nation. Simply put, Georgia will be a much healthier place to live, work and play once the Affordable Care Act takes full effect.

Some of these beneficial items are already in place. For example:

  • Kids can continue to be covered by their parents’ health insurance until age 26. ( Citation: Page 15, sec. 2714 )
  • Kids under the age of 19 can no longer be denied health insurance due to a pre-existing condition. ( Citation: Page 45, sec. 2704 and Page 57, sec. 1255 )
  • Insurance companies can no longer drop your health coverage just because you become ill. ( Citation: Page 14, sec. 2712 )
  • New health plans must provide preventative care (breast cancer screenings, most immunizations), with no charges or co-pays. ( Citation: Page 14, sec. 2713 )
  • The Food and Drug Administration is allowed to approve more generic drugs that will inspire free-market competition between drug companies to lower the cost of prescriptions. ( Citation: An entire section of the bill, called Title VII, is devoted to this, starting on page 747 )
  • People on Medicare will get increased rebates on many drugs, helping to keep the cost down. ( Citation: Page 216, sec. 2501 )
  • People in the Medicare “Donut-Hole” will get a rebate to make up for the extra money they now spend. This “Donut-Hole” will be eliminated in 2020, saving hundreds of dollars for these Medicare patients.( Citation: Page 379, sec. 3301 )
  • A limit is placed on just how much of a percentage of the money an insurer makes can be profit, to make sure they’re not price-gouging customers. ( Citation: Page 22, sec. 1101 )
  • Chain restaurants now have to display the calories of their menu items. ( Citation: Page 499, sec. 4205)
  • Eventually, all people with pre-existing conditions will be able to obtain health coverage. Until then, this bill creates a “high-risk pool” for these people so that they can obtain health insurance immediately at a higher rate until the “pre-existing conditions” rule is eliminated.( Citation: Page 30, sec. 1101, Page 45, sec. 2704, and Page 46, sec. 2702 )
  • Insurance companies are forbidden from discriminating based on a disability. ( Citation: Page 47, sec. 2705 )

These things have already happened, but there are bigger changes on the way that will once again allow Georgians to lead healthier and longer lives.

In 2014, the biggest items take effect.  

  • All people with pre-existing conditions can be covered at the same rate as everyone else. Insurance companies can no longer deny you coverage based upon your previous health problems, and they can no longer charge you two or three (or 20) times more.  ( Citation: Page 45, sec. 2704, Page 46, sec. 2701, and Page 57, sec. 1255 )
  • If you already have insurance, Medicare or Medicaid, you won’t need to do anything different.
  • If you don’t have insurance, Medicare or Medicaid, and cannot afford to purchase it, you will be eligible to get assistance. A family of four that makes less than $30,657 would be eligible for Medicaid. A family of four that made more than $30,657 but less than $92,200 would be eligible for tax credits to purchase insurance through an insurance exchange run by the state of Georgia.
  • If you don’t have insurance, Medicare or Medicaid but make enough money to purchase it on your own, you’ll will be charged a fee if you refuse to purchase it. This requirement is important, as otherwise people might not purchase insurance until they get sick. You can choose not to get it, in which case you’ll pay a fee of $95 or 1% of your income, whichever is greater. (Citation: Page 145, sec. 5000A)

Does this hurt small businesses?

Absolutely not. A healthier work force means less time spent in hospitals or through sick days, which should improve everyone’s bottom line.

  • Small businesses get additional tax credits for two years. (It looks like this is specifically for businesses with 25 or fewer employees) ( Citation: Page 138, sec. 1421 )
  • Businesses with over 50 employees must offer health insurance to full-time employees or pay a penalty.
  • Congress and Congressional staff will transition to this health insurance system as well. Rather than their Federal Insurance plan, they’ll use the same ones as everyone else. No longer will taxpayers foot the bill for Congress, now they’ll pay the same as you or I.( Citation: Page 81, sec. 1312 )

Is the Affordable Care Act too expensive?

Actually, the Affordable Care Act will save $210 billion a year once it is fully implemented, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. By the year 2021, the bill will actually have paid for itself and started bringing in more money than it costs.

Will I have to pay new taxes?

  • If you make over $200,000 a year, your taxes go up 0.9%. ( Citation: Page 818, sec. 9015 )
  • If you are a small business owner with more than 50 employees and refuse to get health coverage for your employees, you’ll have to pay a penalty.
  • There is a new tax on pharmaceutical companies, and the purchase of medical devices.

The Affordable Care Act doesn’t have “death panels”, which many right-wing folks use to scare the public about the reforms. It doesn’t use taxpayer money for abortions, instead letting each state to figure out whether it wants to cover this on a state-by-state basis. It doesn’t give free insurance to illegal immigrants, and it doesn’t force you to change your insurance plans. If you are happy with your current health plan, that’s great! You won’t need to get a different plan or see a different doctor.

The Affordable Care Act is an important piece of legislation that strengthens Georgia’s health care system and provides common-sense solutions for you and your family. No longer will you have to worry about your health insurer dropping you because you get sick, or not covering your health payments simply because you’ve been sick before.

Please share this with your friends and family, and if you have any further questions about health care reform, send an email to “[email protected]”.

Written by PNM Admin · Categorized: Georgia Democrats · Tagged: Affordable Care Act, Georgia

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