Responsibilities of US Health Care Reform 2009
The Proposed Healthcare and Insurance Reform from the US Government
On July 14, 2009, the House committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce and Education and Labor finalized a proposal for the House of Representatives that tries to tackle what it sees as problems with the existing health care system in the United States. This proposal was written up in response to President Obama's insistence that the health care system is in dire need of reform.
The plan discusses the possibility of public health care options, and having a centralized exchange for competitive insurance plans, insuring every American and upgrading Medicare, but discussions of how all this is to be paid for abound and debates are strong about who is responsible for costs.
Shared Responsibility for Health Reform Costs
The plan asks for share responsibility for the costs of insuring all Americans. The costs will be shared between employers, individuals as well as state and federal government.
Eligible individuals will be receive credits from the US Government for health insurance based on their income. They will become responsible for choosing their health care and maintaining it. According to the AAHCA bill those who do not insure themselves and have gross income above certain levels will be penalized "2.5 % of their modified adjusted gross income”. Employers will still be able to pay for or contribute to health insurance for their employees like the existing plan. Employers who choose to contribute will pay up to 8% of their payroll. Companies who have payrolls of under $250,000 per year will be exempt from contributing. Penalties will be assessed to companies with payroll over $250,000 who do not contribute and tax credits will be available for those who do.
A Focus of Prevention and Wellness and Investing in Education
Prevention and wellness play a large part in this health care reform. As with many of this administration's programs, focus is on the future of the nation and future well-being of those in our nation. Prevention and wellness care are being revamped to include expansion of community health centers, eliminating cost sharing by the patient for preventative health care, better and more funding for community based programs and local health departments.
The proposal also focuses on doctor and medical staff education and more focus on primary care, nursing and public health concerns and projects, helping to educate new primary care physicians and aimed at keeping existing doctors up to date in technological advances.
Improvements in Medicare and Preventing Waste and Fraud
Medicare improvements are a large portion of the focus in this health care reform. Medicare has been endangered for years by fraud, waste and misuse. Many seniors who have needed health care could not afford the necessary medications, the medicare premiums and in some cases co-payments for preventative care. Many doctors were not getting paid and some were getting overpaid. The system has been wrought with problems and is going to be looked at very carefully with specific changes in mind.
Some of the changes in Medicare will be low-income subsidies, reform of the existing physician payment system, a reward system for primary care services, coordination and efficiency. A new standard of payment accuracy and new tools to combat waste, fraud and abuse in the system. Paperwork is being simplified which will help to ease the burden for reimbursements on both providers and patients.
President Obama and his supporters think its time for major changes in the medical insurance field but the proposal has been facing some stiff opposition. Those who oppose the plan do so with a vengeance and some have been found to be spreading false information to try and scare people into opposing the plan with them. Citizens are encouraged to read the health care reform proposal for themselves and make up their own minds and to not let bureaucracy dictate what is best for them.
Health Care Reform for the US
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