Showing posts with label health care debate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health care debate. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A Patient's Bill of Rights
I received this message in an email today from President Obama. (Well, me and a zillion other people.)
“Starting in September, some of the worst abuses will be banned forever. No more discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions. No more retroactively dropping somebody’s policy when they get sick if they made an unintentional mistake on an application. No more lifetime limits or restrictive annual limits on coverage. Those days are over.” – PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
President Obama announced a Patient’s Bill of Rights made possible under health reform—a basic set of consumer protections that end some of the health insurance companies’ worst abuses.
The Patient’s Bill of Rights:
1. Prevents insurance companies from canceling your policy if you get sick. Right now, insurance companies can retroactively cancel your policy when you become sick if you or your employer made an unintentional mistake on your paperwork.
2. Stops insurance companies from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. Beginning in September, discrimination against children with pre-existing conditions will be banned—a protection that will be extended to all Americans in 2014.
3. Prohibits setting lifetime limits on insurance policies issued or renewed after Sept. 23, 2010. No longer will insurance companies be able to take away coverage at the very moment when patients need it most. More than 100 million Americans have health coverage that imposes lifetime limits on care.
4. Phases out annual dollar limits on coverage over the next three years. Even more aggressive than lifetime limits are annual dollar limits on what an insurance company will pay for your health care. For the people with medical costs that hit these limits, the consequences can be devastating.
5. Allows you to designate any available participating primary care doctor as your provider. You’ll be able to keep the primary care doctor or pediatrician you choose, and see an OB-GYN without referral.
6. Removes insurance company barriers to receiving emergency care and prevents them from charging you more because you’re out of network. You’ll be able to get emergency care at a hospital outside of your plan’s network without facing higher co-pays or deductibles or having to fight to get approval first.
“Starting in September, some of the worst abuses will be banned forever. No more discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions. No more retroactively dropping somebody’s policy when they get sick if they made an unintentional mistake on an application. No more lifetime limits or restrictive annual limits on coverage. Those days are over.” – PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
President Obama announced a Patient’s Bill of Rights made possible under health reform—a basic set of consumer protections that end some of the health insurance companies’ worst abuses.
The Patient’s Bill of Rights:
1. Prevents insurance companies from canceling your policy if you get sick. Right now, insurance companies can retroactively cancel your policy when you become sick if you or your employer made an unintentional mistake on your paperwork.
2. Stops insurance companies from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. Beginning in September, discrimination against children with pre-existing conditions will be banned—a protection that will be extended to all Americans in 2014.
3. Prohibits setting lifetime limits on insurance policies issued or renewed after Sept. 23, 2010. No longer will insurance companies be able to take away coverage at the very moment when patients need it most. More than 100 million Americans have health coverage that imposes lifetime limits on care.
4. Phases out annual dollar limits on coverage over the next three years. Even more aggressive than lifetime limits are annual dollar limits on what an insurance company will pay for your health care. For the people with medical costs that hit these limits, the consequences can be devastating.
5. Allows you to designate any available participating primary care doctor as your provider. You’ll be able to keep the primary care doctor or pediatrician you choose, and see an OB-GYN without referral.
6. Removes insurance company barriers to receiving emergency care and prevents them from charging you more because you’re out of network. You’ll be able to get emergency care at a hospital outside of your plan’s network without facing higher co-pays or deductibles or having to fight to get approval first.
Monday, May 10, 2010
How to Stay on your Parents' Health Insurance Plan until you are 26 : US Administration released New Info today
Just received this info from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office:
Today, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued new regulations on how to implement new coverage for young adults under age 26. The new regulations build on the news that insurance companies – under pressure from Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration – have agreed to start providing coverage for young adults ahead of schedule.
If you want to learn more, here’s what you should do:
· Check for Immediate Options: Private health insurance companies that cover the majority of Americans have volunteered to provide coverage earlier than the implementation deadline for young adults losing coverage as a result of graduating from college or aging out of dependent coverage on a family policy. This stop-gap coverage, in many cases, is available now. Ask your employer and insurer about this option.
· Watch for Open Enrollment: If early coverage is not an option with your employer or insurance company, then young adults will qualify for an open enrollment period to join their parents’ family plan or policy beginning on or after September 23, 2010. Insurers and employers are required to provide notice for this special open enrollment period. Watch for it or ask about it.
· Expect an Offer of Continued Enrollment: Insurers and employers that sponsor health plans will inform young adults of continued eligibility for coverage until the age of 26. To get the coverage, young adults and their parents need not do anything but sign up and pay for this option.
Today, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued new regulations on how to implement new coverage for young adults under age 26. The new regulations build on the news that insurance companies – under pressure from Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration – have agreed to start providing coverage for young adults ahead of schedule.
If you want to learn more, here’s what you should do:
· Check for Immediate Options: Private health insurance companies that cover the majority of Americans have volunteered to provide coverage earlier than the implementation deadline for young adults losing coverage as a result of graduating from college or aging out of dependent coverage on a family policy. This stop-gap coverage, in many cases, is available now. Ask your employer and insurer about this option.
· Watch for Open Enrollment: If early coverage is not an option with your employer or insurance company, then young adults will qualify for an open enrollment period to join their parents’ family plan or policy beginning on or after September 23, 2010. Insurers and employers are required to provide notice for this special open enrollment period. Watch for it or ask about it.
· Expect an Offer of Continued Enrollment: Insurers and employers that sponsor health plans will inform young adults of continued eligibility for coverage until the age of 26. To get the coverage, young adults and their parents need not do anything but sign up and pay for this option.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Health Care & Student Loan Reform Highlights for Young Americans
Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office released this great summary today. Click on the word "Fullscreen" below for a better view of the doc.
04.08.2010 Young Americans Hcrhe
04.08.2010 Young Americans Hcrhe
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Health Care Bill - What's in it for Young Americans
Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office released a fantastic two-pager today that covers what the new Health Care Bill does for Young Americans.
Check it out here.
When I first read the below bullet point, I got tears in my eyes - this will help so many people who desperately need health insurance.
HEALTH CARE WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST
If you become sick, you can no longer be dropped from your plan (starting this year). If you have a “pre‐existing condition,” beginning in 2014, you can no longer be denied coverage or charged higher rates—and between now and 2014, you can enter an interim high‐risk pool to get insurance.
Check it out here.
When I first read the below bullet point, I got tears in my eyes - this will help so many people who desperately need health insurance.
HEALTH CARE WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST
If you become sick, you can no longer be dropped from your plan (starting this year). If you have a “pre‐existing condition,” beginning in 2014, you can no longer be denied coverage or charged higher rates—and between now and 2014, you can enter an interim high‐risk pool to get insurance.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Student Loan Reform! Another Reason to pass the Health Care Bill!
photo: Congressman George Miller, Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Check out this March 12th blog post - Pelosi And Miller Affirm That Student Loan Overhaul Will Be Included In Health Care Package.
BINGO!
But the bill still needs to pass the US House of Representatives, and student student aid reform language has yet to be introduced in the Senate. So keep those letters coming! Send your Senators a letter supporting student aid reform!
I'm on a youth conference call with the White House on health care reform and was just informed that minutes ago, the White House publicly announced that President Obama will be speaking on Friday at George Mason Patriot Center about health care. Event is open to the public - first come, first served. Doors open at 9am, event begins at 11:30am. Details - including a link to the Facebook event - here on the White House website.
Another upcoming event - the 41st Annual Grassroots Legislative Conference and National Student Lobby Day in Washington, DC, March 20-23rd.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Take Action Today :: Women's Reproductive Rights & The US Health Care Bill
Today is the Not Under The Bus Campaign's Take Action Day, sponsored by the Women's Media Center.
Right now, the US Congress is reconciling the US House of Representatives' and the US Senate's versions of the health care bill behind closed doors. According to The Hill newspaper, the pace will pick up Wednesday, January 13th when six House Democrats (Reps. Pelosi, Rangel, Steny Hoyer (Md.), James Clyburn (S.C.), George Miller (Calif.), and Henry Waxman (Calif.)) join a group of five Democratic senators (Sens. Dodd, Harry Reid (Nev.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Max Baucus (Mont.) and Tom Harkin (Iowa)) at the White House.
One of the issues up for debate is women's reproductive rights. I've blogged about this before, but here's a nice recap from the National Women's Law Center:
The Stupak-Pitts amendment in the House bill prevents women from using their own personal funds to purchase an insurance plan that includes abortion coverage in the new health insurance exchanges -- taking away essential coverage that most insurance plans provide today. Senator Ben Nelson's addition to the Senate bill also contains an unworkable and unfair approach to abortion coverage by imposing arbitrary and burdensome hurdles to secure access to abortion care.
Please sign NARAL Pro-Choice petition by 12noon on January 20th, here.
The other petition I like, that I think you should sign is the National Women's Law Center's petition hosted on the Change.org website, here.
If you sign one or both of these petitions then you'll be in good company! Change.org reported last month that the Berkeley, CA City Council sent coat hangers to 20 Members of Congress.
From the Change.org blog post:
"It's great to send a letter, but I think it's more effective to send a coat hanger," Councilmember Kriss Worthington argued before the vote. So the care package included both, the letter reading: "The City of Berkeley is sending you this coat hanger as a symbol of the horrible pain and suffering endured by women as a result of years of anti-choice policies imposed by our government. ... We strongly support health care reform but it is unconscionable that this should come at the expense of a woman’s reproductive rights."
If you are a student then join The Hanger Project by printing out the above graphics as tags, attaching them to wire hangers, and displaying them around your dorm or campus. More info here.
Right now, the US Congress is reconciling the US House of Representatives' and the US Senate's versions of the health care bill behind closed doors. According to The Hill newspaper, the pace will pick up Wednesday, January 13th when six House Democrats (Reps. Pelosi, Rangel, Steny Hoyer (Md.), James Clyburn (S.C.), George Miller (Calif.), and Henry Waxman (Calif.)) join a group of five Democratic senators (Sens. Dodd, Harry Reid (Nev.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Max Baucus (Mont.) and Tom Harkin (Iowa)) at the White House.
One of the issues up for debate is women's reproductive rights. I've blogged about this before, but here's a nice recap from the National Women's Law Center:
The Stupak-Pitts amendment in the House bill prevents women from using their own personal funds to purchase an insurance plan that includes abortion coverage in the new health insurance exchanges -- taking away essential coverage that most insurance plans provide today. Senator Ben Nelson's addition to the Senate bill also contains an unworkable and unfair approach to abortion coverage by imposing arbitrary and burdensome hurdles to secure access to abortion care.
Please sign NARAL Pro-Choice petition by 12noon on January 20th, here.
The other petition I like, that I think you should sign is the National Women's Law Center's petition hosted on the Change.org website, here.
If you sign one or both of these petitions then you'll be in good company! Change.org reported last month that the Berkeley, CA City Council sent coat hangers to 20 Members of Congress.
From the Change.org blog post:
"It's great to send a letter, but I think it's more effective to send a coat hanger," Councilmember Kriss Worthington argued before the vote. So the care package included both, the letter reading: "The City of Berkeley is sending you this coat hanger as a symbol of the horrible pain and suffering endured by women as a result of years of anti-choice policies imposed by our government. ... We strongly support health care reform but it is unconscionable that this should come at the expense of a woman’s reproductive rights."
If you are a student then join The Hanger Project by printing out the above graphics as tags, attaching them to wire hangers, and displaying them around your dorm or campus. More info here.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Poll: Young People Back Obama, Disapprove of His Major Policies
An excerpt from a post written by Ari Mebler and published on The Nation's blog today:
A new Harvard poll finds that President Obama is holding on to his strongest supporters, voters under 30, though they overwhelmingly oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan.
About 58 percent of young voters approve of Obama's job performance, while his approval among all voters recently dipped below 50 percent for the first time. About 66 percent of young voters oppose a build-up in Afghanistan, though this survey was in the field before the President's West Point speech.
In fact, the most striking part of the new poll is how young voters disapprove of Obama on issues across the board, yet still support his overall job performance. A briefing from Harvard's Institute of Politics (IOP) crunches the numbers:
The IOP's fall poll indicates 18-29 year-olds are now in line with the general population: a majority of young adults approve of [Obama] generally but disapprove of his handling of major issues asked about in the poll... A majority of 18-29 year-olds also disapprove of his handling of every major issue asked about:
Afghanistan (55% disapprove, 41% approve)
health care (52% disapprove, 44% approve)
the economy (52% disapprove, 44% approve)
Iran (53% disapprove, 42% approve)
and the federal budget deficit (58% disapprove, 38% approve)
A detailed report on the poll’s findings is available on Harvard’s Institute of Politics (IOP) (located at the John F. Kennedy School of Government) homepage at www.iop.harvard.edu.
A new Harvard poll finds that President Obama is holding on to his strongest supporters, voters under 30, though they overwhelmingly oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan.
About 58 percent of young voters approve of Obama's job performance, while his approval among all voters recently dipped below 50 percent for the first time. About 66 percent of young voters oppose a build-up in Afghanistan, though this survey was in the field before the President's West Point speech.
In fact, the most striking part of the new poll is how young voters disapprove of Obama on issues across the board, yet still support his overall job performance. A briefing from Harvard's Institute of Politics (IOP) crunches the numbers:
The IOP's fall poll indicates 18-29 year-olds are now in line with the general population: a majority of young adults approve of [Obama] generally but disapprove of his handling of major issues asked about in the poll... A majority of 18-29 year-olds also disapprove of his handling of every major issue asked about:
Afghanistan (55% disapprove, 41% approve)
health care (52% disapprove, 44% approve)
the economy (52% disapprove, 44% approve)
Iran (53% disapprove, 42% approve)
and the federal budget deficit (58% disapprove, 38% approve)
A detailed report on the poll’s findings is available on Harvard’s Institute of Politics (IOP) (located at the John F. Kennedy School of Government) homepage at www.iop.harvard.edu.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Senate Health Care Bill Restores Abstinence-Only Funding
Taken from today's Newsweek article -
While the Senate toned down the House's language on abortion restrictions, it may have ratcheted things up with another controversial, reproductive health issue: abstinence-only education. Sec. 2954 of the Senate health reform bill, released Wednesday evening, restores funding for abstinence education.
Their provision would restore a program called Title V, which, since the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, has allocated a yearly $50 million in grants to abstinence-only education programs.
If the Senate language survives reconciliation, the Title V program will be extended through 2014.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
you can help ... Defend Women's Rights in the US Health Care Bill
The US House of Representatives passed a health care bill, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, last week.
Yay, right? The bill contains some good news for young Americans.
Emmmm yeah, except ... the bill contains a clause known as "The Stupak Amendment" that prohibits the funding of abortion by the new federal insurance program - the "public option" - and prohibits the use of federal subsidies to purchase other insurance that covers abortion.
More specifics about the clause here.
You can do something about this.
The US Senate still has to pass their own version of the health care bill before this bill can become law. You can help keep anti-choice clauses like the Stupak Amendment out of the US Senate bill by participating in this campaign created by the League of Young Voters.
For additional info about this see Planned Parenthood's statement "Planned Parenthood Condemns Passage of Stupak/Pitts Amendment" and this November 8th New York Times article "For Abortion Foes, a Victory in Health Care Vote."
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Health Insurance for Americans Under Age 27 & Pete Wentz on Health Care
Photo: October 13, 2009 press conference. Photo taken from Speaker Pelosi's blog.
Yesterday, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA), announced that a key provision of the house version of the health care bill would allow youth to stay on their parents' health insurance plan until their 27th birthday.
This article from the Hill says that Speaker Pelosi has been working with fellow leaders to merge the versions of the healthcare bill passed by three different committees into what will in many ways be a whole new bill.
See the summary on Nancy Pelosi's blog, here.
Read the text of this key provision, here.
Watch highlights of yesterday's announcement, below, including excerpts from Krisja Kendricks' remarks.
According to Nancy Pelosi's blog post, while a senior in college, Krisja was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She was still covered by her dad’s insurance plan and received excellent and prompt medical attention, surgery and therapy—but two months after she graduated college, she was kicked off the plan. She applied to numerous insurance companies and, time after time, was denied coverage because she’d had cancer. Krisja said, “essentially because I needed insurance, I was not eligible for it.”.
Photo: Pete WentzOn October 21st @ 4pm PT Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz will participate in a live online health care forum with Rock the Vote President Heather Smith and U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius. Register to participate here, and submit your questions for the participants.
UPDATE (11/9/09): watch the archived footage of the online health care forum below.
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