MrHealthInsurance Blog

Perhaps by morning there will be articles out there with some quick stats on the things you might want to know. I thought I would put out a few of the stats to start. Can I get insurance without a pre-ex clause??- Not until 2014. High Risk pools ? - Federal government will fund $5 billion for high risk pools. Should kick in 2010. Kids ? - To age 26 in all States. Should kick in 2010. Did my taxes go up? - Payroll tax will increase in 2010 for those earning over $200k. Income tax surcharge of 3.8%. Did my Health Savings Account survive? - Yes. What about employer penalties who don't provide insurance - For qualified employers, the penalty has been increased from $750 to $2000 per employee. What about individual penalties? - If you don't have insurance, you will pay 2% income tax surcharge up to $325 per person. What about Expensive health plans surtax? - Exists, $10,200 for singles, $27,500 for families. Flex Spending Accounts - $2500 annual contribution limit. Deduction of Medical Expenses - Increase from 7.5% of AGI to 10% excluded. Creation of Long Term Care insurance fund for to help seniors in need of help with daily tasks such as bathing and dressing. No gender based pricing for individual insurance. No lifetime limits on benefits. $480 billion in new taxes over the next 10 years. $500 billion in Medicare cuts over the next 10 years.

I am monumentally disappointed in the passing of this Health Care Reform bill. Most of the people reading this blog will pay substantially more for the same services so that those who did not pay into the system have guaranteed access. This bill will surely be modified thousands of times over the next 5 years, but one thing is certain; costs will increase. Imagine a surcharge on your mortgage to make sure that those who over extended don't lose their home equity. I am 100% open to being wrong. I made a huge mistake in voting for a Presidential candidate who promised openness and bipartisanship in formulating a health care bill. I am hopeful that my losing streak continues. For now, I am as disappointed in Congress as I was excited when Mr. Obama was elected.

Update: On March 2, 2010, Congress passed, and the President signed a 2nd extension of the COBRA subsidy. The subsidy qualification period has been extended to December 31, 2010. President Signs COBRA Subsidy Extension Legislation Extends the premium subsidy eligibility period by two months, so it will end on February 28, 2010, rather than December 31, 2009. Extends the period of the 65 percent COBRA subsidy from nine months to 15 months. Establishes a transition period that applies to individuals who lost subsidies before the effective date of the Act because they received the maximum number of months of subsidies under the original subsidy provisions. Establishes new notification requirements by group health plans or other entities. Clarifies that eligibility and notice requirements for the subsidy are based on eligibility for COBRA due to loss of coverage because of qualifying event (involuntary termination of employment), both of which must occur during the eligibility period. Becomes effective as if included in the original COBRA subsidy provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

What I believe will be in the bill. No Cost Containment Some disincentive for those that try and beat the system, but not enough to change the economic decision of the individual to choose to try and beat the system. $50 billion in new taxes to be passed on to the consumer. No reward for staying insured. No incentive to obtain lower cost care. Elimination of Pre-ex. No change on provider discounts. A health insurance exchange to create new competition, but most likely won’t be competitive. “To heck with fraud”, lets just cut everybody. (sarcasm) – The government can’t seem to manage fraud, or even mount an attempt. They just will build in the basis that everybody cheats them, so cut everybody.

At 11:00pm Eastern Time,  the House of Representatives passed sweeping health care reform legislation with HB3962.   The vote was  ,  with    Democrats voting against Health Care reform.  

The bill, over 2000 pages, includes a Public Option.  An amendment passed tonight that banned Abortion coverage being included with any Public Option or private plan where federal subsidies are involved.  Rep. Jan Schakowski argued vehemently for abortion funding , but was unsuccessful in getting that ...

...

...

...

Is Apple the big winner in Health Care Reform legislation?

As someone who dedicates their life to best serving the needs of clients and making sure that they are adequately protected from the "real" holes in insurance, I am completely overwhelmed by the amount of disinformation and villianization of the entire health insurance industry.   I am equally shocked by the general lack of understanding of how the insurance system works, even on the most basic level. 

There is a growing and disturbing amount of propaganda appearing in conservative and liberal publications seemingly for no other purpose to sell media.    The lack of research people of authority or influence conduct before weighing in with an, all knowing, summary is, in my opinion, inciting.    Over the past week, I have stumbled on to two enormous articles with, an apparent, intentional misrepresentations of facts and reason.