Democrats: More information, more support for health-care reform
QUAD CITY TIMES
September 21, 2010
By: Deirdre Cox Baker
Support for the new health-care reform law will grow as people become more knowledgeable about what’s included in the massive piece of legislation approved last spring, Democrats affirmed this week.
Several aspects of the Affordable Care Act kick in Thursday, and both supporters and detractors of the law have increased the rhetoric as campaigning heats up for the Nov. 2 mid-term elections.
U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Dick Durbin of Illinois, both Democrats, believe that it’s just a matter of time before the public learns about the reforms that are part of the law.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, prefers an approach that results in adjustment of the legislation. For example, he favors the part of the law that prohibits insurance companies from refusing to cover people with pre-existing conditions. That goes into effect Thursday. But Grassley doesn’t support a mandate, set for 2014, that requires Americans to buy health insurance.
“All the new federal control over health care should be replaced with reforms that force insurance companies to compete to deliver better quality at a lower cost,” Grassley said.
Harkin spoke earlier this week as part of a teleconference call by Families USA, a reform advocacy group, to announce that an estimated 261,000 Iowans will be eligible for tax credits when they purchase health insurance from a state exchange to be set up by 2014. Income eligibility for a family of four is up to $88,200 annually.
“These tax credits represent the largest tax cut for middle-class families in history,” Harkin said, more than $1 billion in Iowa alone.
Families USA projects that 1,059,100 Illinois residents will be eligible for the new tax cuts.
Some 93 percent of those who are eligible in Illinois and 97 percent in Iowa have full- or part-time employment, according to a report released this week for the two states.
Part of the Affordable Care Act called the “Patients Bill of Rights” kicks in Thursday, Harkin said. That includes a ban on the ability of insurance companies to place lifetime ceilings on benefits or to end coverage if a person becomes ill. It also requires coverage for children with pre-existing conditions and to keep children on a parent’s policy until their 26th birthday in almost any circumstance.
“People don’t know about the nuances of the law,” Harkin said. He expects state agencies, hospitals and physicians all will begin to speak up about the law as it affects patients and clients.
The Families USA organization will pair with dozens of others to launch a program called Enroll America, said Ron Pollack, executive director.
This will be done with “many bedfellows, including insurance, pharmaceutical, hospitals, physician groups, consumer organizations,” Pollack said. The groups will band together to create Enroll America to make sure people eligible for different benefits under the Affordable Care Act actually get enrolled.
Surveys show many people support reforms included in the law, but don’t realize those changes are actually part of it, Pollack said. “Support for the Affordable Care Act will grow over time,” he added.
Support for the new health-care reform law will grow as people become more knowledgeable about what’s included in the massive piece of legislation approved last spring, Democrats affirmed this week.
Several aspects of the Affordable Care Act kick in Thursday, and both supporters and detractors of the law have increased the rhetoric as campaigning heats up for the Nov. 2 mid-term elections.
U.S. Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Dick Durbin of Illinois, both Democrats, believe that it’s just a matter of time before the public learns about the reforms that are part of the law.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, prefers an approach that results in adjustment of the legislation. For example, he favors the part of the law that prohibits insurance companies from refusing to cover people with pre-existing conditions. That goes into effect Thursday. But Grassley doesn’t support a mandate, set for 2014, that requires Americans to buy health insurance.
“All the new federal control over health care should be replaced with reforms that force insurance companies to compete to deliver better quality at a lower cost,” Grassley said.
Harkin spoke earlier this week as part of a teleconference call by Families USA, a reform advocacy group, to announce that an estimated 261,000 Iowans will be eligible for tax credits when they purchase health insurance from a state exchange to be set up by 2014. Income eligibility for a family of four is up to $88,200 annually.
“These tax credits represent the largest tax cut for middle-class families in history,” Harkin said, more than $1 billion in Iowa alone.
Families USA projects that 1,059,100 Illinois residents will be eligible for the new tax cuts.
Some 93 percent of those who are eligible in Illinois and 97 percent in Iowa have full- or part-time employment, according to a report released this week for the two states.
Part of the Affordable Care Act called the “Patients Bill of Rights” kicks in Thursday, Harkin said. That includes a ban on the ability of insurance companies to place lifetime ceilings on benefits or to end coverage if a person becomes ill. It also requires coverage for children with pre-existing conditions and to keep children on a parent’s policy until their 26th birthday in almost any circumstance.
“People don’t know about the nuances of the law,” Harkin said. He expects state agencies, hospitals and physicians all will begin to speak up about the law as it affects patients and clients.
The Families USA organization will pair with dozens of others to launch a program called Enroll America, said Ron Pollack, executive director.
This will be done with “many bedfellows, including insurance, pharmaceutical, hospitals, physician groups, consumer organizations,” Pollack said. The groups will band together to create Enroll America to make sure people eligible for different benefits under the Affordable Care Act actually get enrolled.
Surveys show many people support reforms included in the law, but don’t realize those changes are actually part of it, Pollack said. “Support for the Affordable Care Act will grow over time,” he added.