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Just some thoughts on the Huffington Post 14 items.
Health Insurers cannot deny children health insurance because of pre-existing conditions. A ban on the discrimination in adults will take effect in 2014. - I'm fine with this so long as there is a universal individual mandate with teeth. Don't give any time to anyone who says they support eliminating pre-existing decision eliminations but not mandated coverage. Unfortunately the individual mandate passed and soon to be weakened by the reconciliation bill is not "teeth" in my opinion and if it isn't strengthened could be the fatal flaw that puts the whole thing on the economy crashing track feared by the opposition.
Businesses with fewer than 50 employees will get tax credits covering up to 50% of employee premiums. Fine. Another source I saw said it was 35% of benefit for companies with 25 or fewer but wherever the number is it is somewhat arbitrary and within an order of magnitude of what seems reasonable.
Seniors will get a rebate to fill the so-called "donut hole" in Medicare drug coverage, which severely limits prescription medication coverage expenditures over $2,700. As of next year, 50 percent of the donut hole will be filled. The reconciliation bill will change this but I can't remember specifically how. This however, if doom happens, will be the second door through which it might come. We're mandating demand with only minimal tools for controlling costs in a political environment (an insurance company may be willing to make the unpopular decision to not cover an expensive drug of questionable value but your local congresscritter never will).
The cut-off age for young adults to continue to be covered by their parents' health insurance rises to the age 27. Don't really like this one, at least not without some "means testing" attached. This really does feel like infantilization to me. I understand the idea behind it, but I still don't like it.
Lifetime caps on the amount of insurance an individual can have will be banned. Annual caps will be limited, and banned in 2014. - Fine, but this really will mean "rationing" though not necessarily any different than the rationing now but now it can be blamed on people we vote for which is a much stronger incentive to push off the bad news until it destroys the system. All the sooner if the mandate isn't given some bite.
A temporary high-risk pool will be set up to cover adults with pre-existing conditions. Health care exchanges will eliminate the program in 2014. Fine.
New plans must cover checkups and other preventative care without co-pays. All plans will be affected by 2018. - Fine, but I really need to track down the exact language on this. Once there is a way for something to be completely "free" then the lobbying will begin to get everything defined as preventative care. Chemotherapy for lung cancer will be preventative because it can prevent the need for radiation therapy or something. Manipulable labels are a dangerous thing.
Insurance companies can no longer cut someone when he or she gets sick. - Very good and one of the few major pieces that could have been done as a standalone without the mandate.
Insurers must now reveal how much money is spent on overhead. Irrelevant so long as they are meeting the requirements established for participation in the exchanges. But not a huge deal depending on how the terms are defined. It'll just become the next accounting game on how to redefine things so as to minimize overhead.
Any new plan must now implement an appeals process for coverage determinations and claims. Fine.
This tax will impose a ten percent tax on indoor tanning services. This tax, which replaced the proposed tax on cosmetic surgery, would be effective for services on or after July 1, 2010. - Stupid and reeks of scope creep. Also a foreboding sign of how they'll justify taxing anything just by attaching any kind of "health" consequence to it.
New screening procedures will be implemented to help eliminate health insurance fraud and waste. - Fine in itself. However, overall a relatively unimportant element and also a chimera. If fraud were easy to squeeze from the system it would have been done already.
Medicare payment protections will be extended to small rural hospitals and other health care facilities that have a small number of Medicare patients. No opinion.
Non-profit Blue Cross organizations will be required to maintain a medical loss ratio -- money spent on procedures over money incoming -- of 85 percent or higher to take advantage of IRS tax benefits. Fine, but then I already think we're too liberal on granting tax benefits to non-profits.
Chain restaurants will be required to provide a "nutrient content disclosure statement" alongside their items. Expect to see calories listed both on in-store and drive-through menus of fast-food restaurants sometime soon. Stupid nannyism.
The bill establishes a temporary program for companies that provide early retiree health benefits for those ages 55‐64 in order to help reduce the often-expensive cost of that coverage. No strong opinion.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services will set up a new Web site to make it easy for Americans in any state to seek out affordable health insurance options The site will also include helpful information for small businesses. Meaningless feel good measure. If you feel this is an important element first please explain without doing any new research in what ways the current federal and state information provided on health insurance options is inadequate.
A two‐year temporary credit (up to a maximum of $1 billion) is in the bill to encourage investment in new therapies for the prevention and treatment of diseases. Nice, but meaningless from the point of view of health care reform.
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