What Do the Health Care Changes Mean for Me?by Charity Roberson
Everyone seems to have an opinion about the new health-care reform bill. Some think it will be the answer to all of our health-care woes, while others think we have entered into the world of communism and socialism.
And while it often seems your opinion comes from your experience (i.e., whether you’ve had trouble with insurance or have no insurance or have always been taken care of with great benefits), here are some facts to help us understand what this will mean for each of us.
First of all, most of the effects of this bill will not take effect until 2014. However, beginning this September, you will be allowed to stay on your parent’s insurance until you are age 26. If you are without insurance because of a pre-existing condition, you may have the opportunity to purchase some temporary insurance very soon. Additionally, children will no longer be denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition.
In the future, your health history will no longer be able to be held against you. For women, that can be reassuring since many of the female-specific complications can be included in this category. The hope is that this bill will remove the more expensive insurance costs that women usually pay for comparable coverage. There will also be more coverage available if you get pregnant, without expensive bonus coverage that is often required for covering these costs.
Also in the future, hospitals, doctors, and insurance companies will have to be more forthright with the cost of care. A pregnant friend recently declared the frustrations of trying to find an exact cost from the insurance company and the hospital for giving birth to her son. It is impossible to prepare for final costs due to the negotiations that happen between insurance companies and hospitals.
Receiving a recent hospital bill for an emergency room visit, I was shocked to see the different price that my large insurance company was able to negotiate compared to the price I would have had to pay if I was uninsured. Posting clear prices will allow people to make informed decisions about insurance and where to receive care without the shock of the bill once it is too late.
The big question is, “Who is paying for all of this?” While some do not feel this question has been completely answered, the bill now says that a single person with an annual income of more than $200,000 or a couple with an income of $250,000 will see an increase on their Medicare tax, from 1.45 percent to 2.35 percent, and will be required to pay an extra 3.8 percent tax on income on interest, dividends, etc.
Many are still concerned about what this will mean for our future, and the reality is that we will really have to wait until 2014 and beyond to see exactly what this means for all of us.
Charity Roberson is the Raleigh Area Baptist campus minister. This July will be her 7th anniversary serving this ministry. That 7 years has held 3 hand surgeries, three visits to the emergency room and 1 diagnosis of gluten intolerance . . . along with a lot of really great life!
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