Health Care Reform Closer to Reality?

Welcome to the Weekly Health Insurance News Roundup. Usually here on the Roundup, we try to avoid articles of either a timely or a political bent, as we try to maintain a neutral, timeless quality to our articles. However, news last week of a panel on the House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill that proposes to extend health insurance to millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. While I don’t have the time or wherewithal to go into the entirety of the legislation, I’ll give some tidbits as well as some reactions.

Under the new bill, health insurance companies would be required to sell insurance to anyone who wanted it, without exclusions to pre-existing conditions, and would offer subsidies to low-income families so they could afford insurance. It would also set up health insurance marketplaces wherein health insurance companies would offer competitively-priced health insurance policies. According to the article in the AP entitled, “House panel OKs sweeping health care bill,” the bill was passed more slowly than many lawmakers wanted, and wasn’t passed with an overwhelming majority. However, progress is progress.

In an article from EmaxHealth entitled, “House Deal Lowers Health Insurance Cost,” they discuss how the “American Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009″, they talk about how health insurance companies have a cap of 4% on their premiums being raised, which will, hopefully, help those with insurance and those looking for insurance both save money in the long run. They discuss, however, that the bill can have some side-effects, such as the money needed to fund the program could cut into other health care spending, and goes onto question whether this legislation will actually help or hurt the people it’s intending to give aid to.

The final article, “White House: Health reform would help small businesses,” comes to us from the Triangle Business Journal. This article discusses how small businesses pay almost 20% more in health care coverage costs than larger businesses do, and how the proposed health care reforms address this problem. With the proposed health insurance marketplaces, businesses would have wider and more affordable options when choosing health insurance coverage for their employees. The new legislation would also not mandate health care coverage for businesses with less than twenty-five employees, helping small businesses save more money.

This new legislation, if passed and adopted, could forge a new path toward affordable health care for all…if it works, and if it doesn’t cost so much that it can remain affordable for the country’s budget. Hopefully the changes that come our way will be positive, giving those individuals and families who are uninsured access to affordable health care to help improve their quality of life.