Healthcare Reform in America: How It Affects You

Healthcare Reform in America: How It Affects You

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) makes several changes to the way health insurers provide coverage. The act does not provide for government-run health care, but it does have mandates requiring that health insurers provide coverage in certain situations and also makes changes to Medicare coverage for seniors. Key parts of the Affordable Care Act that will affect many Americans are:

• Insurance companies cannot limit or deny care to children under the age of 19 if they have pre-existing conditions. This provision will apply to adults beginning in 2014.
• A parent can keep a child on the parent’s coverage until the child reaches his or her 26th birthday.
• Insurance companies can no longer rescind coverage if a person makes an honest mistake in his or her insurance application. For instance, if a person is diagnosed with cancer, an insurance company cannot rescind coverage because the person forgot to mention a long-ago visit to a counselor on the health insurance application. This provision applies to plan years that began September 23, 2010 or later. An insurance company can still rescind coverage in the case of intentional fraud, however.
• Insurance plans cannot apply lifetime limits to coverage. This provision of applies to any plan or insurance policy issued or renewed on or after September 23, 2010.
• The ACA also phases out annual caps on coverage. By January 1, 2014, no annual caps will be allowed for most covered benefits.
• A new health insurance plan or policy that began on or after September 23, 2010 must provide essential preventive health screenings at no additional cost to members. That means the screenings must be available without plan members having to make a co-pay, co-insurance payment or meet a deductible. Preventive health screenings include mammograms, blood pressure screenings, Type 2 diabetes screenings, cholesterol screenings and many other tests.
• The ACA phases out the “donut hole” gap in prescription drug coverage for seniors who are enrolled in Medicare Part D. The donut hole will be completely closed in 2020. The ACA also provides seniors with free annual wellness exams.
  

  Healthcare Reform

Anyone looking for new health insurance faces a daunting task. Going online to investigate different policies may seem easy, but it can become overwhelming to keep track of all the information from different companies. An online quote service, such as InsuranceQuotes.org, can make shopping for health insurance much easier providing quotes from major insurers in one place.