What Does Health Care Reform Means to You?

Whether you are working and currently under your employer's coverage, or an entrepreneur that owns a small business, or a retired personnel that is duly covered by Medicare, or the unemployed who can't afford to buy health insurance for yourself, or even if you can manage to buy one, the Health Care Reform 2010 will enable all Americans to have better control of our health care.

Over the years the House and the Senate have been working extensively in an effort to provide health insurance reform that will truly lowers costs of our coverage, will guarantees choices, and at the same time will enhances quality health care for all us, these are the very same reasons why President Obama came up with a proposal that doesn't only incorporates ideas from the House and the senate, but, also from both political parties of Republicans and the Democrats.

The Health Care Reform 2010 will make health care more affordable for everybody; will make health insurers more accountable; expand health coverage to all Americans, and will make the health system truly sustainable, that will help stabilize family budgets, the Federal budget, and the economy by:

• It makes insurance more affordable by providing the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history, reducing premium costs for tens of millions of families and small business owners who are priced out of coverage today. This helps over 31 million Americans afford health care who do not get it today - and makes coverage more affordable for many more.

• It sets up a new competitive health insurance market giving tens of millions of Americans the exact same insurance choices that members of Congress will have.

• It brings greater accountability to health care by laying out commonsense rules of the road to keep premiums down and prevent insurance industry abuses and denial of care.

• It will end discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions.

• It puts our budget and economy on a more stable path by reducing the deficit by $100 billion over the next ten years - and about $1 trillion over the second decade - by cutting government overspending and reining in waste, fraud and abuse.

Throughout the debate on health insurance reform, Republican concepts and proposals have been included in legislation. Republican initiatives included in legislation passed by Congress are as follow:

• Includes personal responsibility incentives: Allows health insurance premium to vary based on participation in proven employer wellness programs;

• Advances medical liability reform through grants to States: Provides grants to States to jump-start and evaluate promising medical liability reform ideas to put patient safety first, prevent medical errors, and reduce liability premiums;

• Extends dependent coverage to age 26: Gives young adults new options;

• Allows automatic enrollment by employers in health insurance: Allows employee to opt-out;

• Mechanisms to improve quality;

In addition, below are new Republican initiatives that are included in President Obama's proposal:

• Comprehensive Sanctions Database. The President's Proposal establishes a comprehensive Medicare and Medicaid sanctions database, overseen by the HHS Inspector General. This database will provide a central storage location, allowing for law enforcement access to information related to past sanctions on health care providers, suppliers and related entities;

• Registration and Background Checks of Billing Agencies and Individuals. In an effort to decrease dishonest billing practices in the Medicare program, the President's Proposal will assist in reducing the number of individuals and agencies with a history of fraudulent activities participating in Federal health care programs. It ensures that entities that bill for Medicare on behalf of providers are in good standing. It also strengthens the Secretary's ability to exclude from Medicare individuals who knowingly submit false or fraudulent claims;

• Expanded Access to the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank. Increasing access to the health care integrity data bank will improve coordination and information sharing in anti-fraud efforts. The President's Proposal broadens access to the data bank to quality control and peer review organizations and private plans that are involved in furnishing items or services reimbursed by Federal health care program. It includes criminal penalties for misuse;

• Liability of Medicare Administrative Contractors for Claims Submitted by Excluded Providers. In attacking fraud, it is critical to ensure the contractors that are paying claims are doing their utmost to ensure excluded providers do not receive Medicare payments. Therefore, the President's Proposal provision holds Medicare Administrative Contractors accountable for Federal payment for individuals or entities excluded from the Federal programs or items or services for which payment is denied;

• Community Mental Health Centers. The President's Proposal ensures that individuals have access to comprehensive mental health services in the community setting, but strengthens standards for facilities that seek reimbursement as community mental health centers by ensuring these facilities are not taking advantage of Medicare patients or the taxpayers;

• Limiting Debt Discharge in Bankruptcies of Fraudulent Health Care Providers or Suppliers. The President's Proposal will assist in recovering overpayments made to providers and suppliers and return such funds to the Medicare Trust Fund. It prevents fraudulent health care providers from discharging through bankruptcy amounts due to the Secretary from overpayments;

• Use of Technology for Real-Time Data Review. The President's Proposal speeds access to claims data to identify potentially fraudulent payments more quickly. It establishes a system for using technology to provide real-time data analysis of claim and payments under public programs to identify and stop waste, fraud and abuse;

• Illegal Distribution of a Medicare or Medicaid Beneficiary Identification or Billing Privileges. Fraudulent billing to Medicare and Medicaid programs costs taxpayers millions of dollars each year. Individuals looking to gain access to a beneficiary's personal information approach Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with false incentives. Many beneficiaries unwittingly give over this personal information without ever receiving promised services. The President's Proposal adds strong sanctions, including jail time, for individuals who purchase, sell or distribute Medicare beneficiary identification numbers or billing privileges under Medicare or Medicaid - if done knowingly, intentionally, and with intent to defraud;

• Study of Universal Product Numbers Claims Forms for Selected Items and Services under the Medicare Program. The President's Proposal requires HHS to study and issue a report to Congress that examines the costs and benefits of assigning universal product numbers (UPNs) to selected items and services reimbursed under Medicare. The report must examine whether UPNs could help improve the efficient operation of Medicare and its ability to detect fraud and abuse.

During the Bipartisan meeting that was held last February 25^th, President Obama stressed that he's reaching out to Republicans not to get his alleged "pet bill" done, but to solve more efficiently both the immediate challenges we face in the recovery, and the fundamentals and structural problems in our economy that are hurting families, businesses and trigger the exploding deficits and debts that both Federal and state governments are carrying during these critical times.

Throughout the meeting Democrats and Republicans found areas of agreement on important issues like: preventing waste and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid; addressing medical malpractice reform; reforming the insurance market; and giving individuals more choices in coverage, and giving small businesses the opportunity to pool coverage for their employees.

The President's initiative will actually kill sky-rocketing costs of health care, which is contrary to all false information disseminated by those who are lobbying against it. It will actually benefit us all, regardless of our employment situation, we will definitely gain from it in so many ways, and it even extend to the ones unemployed too. And, the only ones who are at disadvantage are the heartless health insurers; who keep on jacking up their health care costs amidst us crawling during these toughest times of our economy.

So, what's happening right now, those insurers are allegedly exerting their very best efforts and spending their unlimited logistics just to stop the health reform get into the finish line. As to who sympathize and support them? Well,those are the people who won't do President Obama a favor in achieving the legacy that's attached to the bill.

Earlier today, the United States' Chief Executive spoke before thousands of students at Arcadia University in Glenside, PA, and he talked about the urgent need for health care reform in the face of rapidly rising health care costs.

"Our cost-cutting measures mirror most of the proposals in the current Senate bill, which reduces most people's premiums and brings down our deficit by up to $1 trillion over the next decade because we're spending our health care dollars more wisely," President Obama explained.

"The United States Congress owes the American people a final, up or down vote on health care. It's time to make a decision. The time for talk is over. We need to see where people stand. And we need all of you to help us win that vote. So I need you to knock on doors. Talk to your neighbors. Pick up the phone. When you hear an argument by the water cooler and somebody is saying this or that about it, say, no, no, no, no, holds on a second. And we need you to make your voices heard all the way in Washington, D.C.," he stressed.

Candidly he admitted "I don't know how passing health care will play politically, but I do know that it's the right thing to do."

"The need is great. The opportunity is here. Let's seize reform. It's within our grasp," the President said.

To conclude, below are the frequently asked questions about Health Care Reform 2010. Please click on the links according to your employment situation:

"I have insurance through my work."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting/questions/insurance-through-work

"I own a small business."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting/questions/small-business

"I have a Medicare."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting/questions/medicare

"I do not have insurance."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting/questions/no-insurance

"I buy my own insurance."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting/questions/buy-own-insurance