Highbrow Magazine - health care reform https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/health-care-reform en Explaining Obamacare: A Guide for the Perplexed https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3358-explaining-obamacare-guide-perplexed <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 12/13/2013 - 09:58</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumhealthcareobama.jpg?itok=HupPmIWI"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumhealthcareobama.jpg?itok=HupPmIWI" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>From <a href="http://punditwire.com/2013/12/11/obamacare-a-guide-for-the-perplexed/">PunditWire.com</a>:</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Any serious effort to Obamacare must begin with a basic question:  compared to what?</p> <p> </p> <p>Once the early administrative glitches are resolved, the basic goal is to provide Americans with an improved relationship with the nation’s healthcare system.  There are many ways to do so.</p> <p> </p> <p>The dream standard, which Obamacare does not aspire to meet, is a system that provides any care requested from any provider without worrisome costs.  Such care would include eyeglasses, hearing aids, dental work and unlimited physical and mental therapy, all conveniently available at sites where cost was never a barrier.</p> <p> </p> <p>There is no existing insurance plan in America that provides such a broad menu of services.  While these services may solve real problems, insurance typically limits or excludes them.</p> <p> </p> <p>And very few plans will pay full reimbursement to any provider picked by the patient.   Those who demand service from a doctor or hospital not in their plan – or an uncovered drug or procedure– are out of luck unless they’re willing to pay for it.  That will continue to be true under Obamacare.</p> <p> </p> <p>So critical stories explaining how someone enrolled in Obamacare may have to switch physicians or drugs, they miss the mark.  They’re comparing the new program with a fantasy that will never come true.  Their criticism is as misguided as the alarm sounded because a few physicians (under 10 percent) don’t participate in Medicare, effectively denying their services to most Medicare beneficiaries.  A more realistic benchmark is private insurance, which relies on networks that include less than two-thirds of physicians practicing in any area.</p> <p> </p> <p>Many of the Obamacare plans include even smaller networks.  But the key question – alike with both Obamacare and existing plans – is whether you can get service from a competent urologist or neurosurgeon when you need it, not whether you can pick any such specialist anywhere.</p> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumCaliforniaHealth.jpg" /></p> <p>That’s what President Obama meant when he repeatedly promised the plan would guarantee the medical care people need – which is not necessarily the same as the care people want.  An efficient system inevitably relies on protocols that rely on preferred medicines and procedures.  Today that would suggest a bias against immediate spine surgery, angioplasties or any drug that has a generic equivalent.   There’s a wealth of data available on what works.  One challenge for Obamacare is getting providers to stop ignoring it.</p> <p> </p> <p>Ever since the Nixon administration, there’s been a bipartisan consensus in Washington that the most efficient way of delivering care is through a protocol-driven health maintenance organization like Kaiser Permanente, which has a standard, default answer for nearly any diagnosis.  Government efforts to push medicine in this direction haven’t been wildly successful.  Obamacare provides another opportunity.</p> <p> </p> <p>Ultimately, we’ll probably find that Obamacare mirrors the current system, with both its strengths, frustrations and imperfections. That’s not accidental.  It will closely resemble the existing employer-linked coverage that most Americans enjoy and not be totally different from Medicare.</p> <p> </p> <p>For those who lack affordable coverage today, it will be a big step forward.  For those with adequate coverage today, the changes will be nearly invisible and features that frustrate patients – and providers – today will continue.</p> <p> </p> <p>Obamacare backers overpromised.  Politicians always do.  Cancer and the common cold will still be with us.  The difference is that nearly everyone will be able to get the care they need in either situation.  That’s a big step forward.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><em>For 16 years, Jim Jaffe worked for House Democrats who served on the Ways and Means Committee, apprenticing with Representatives Green, Gibbons and Gephardt before working for Chairman Dan Rostenkowski.</em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/obamacare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Obamacare</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/affordable-care-act" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Affordable Care Act</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-insurance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health insurance</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/medicaid" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">medicaid</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/medicare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">medicare</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-insurance-companies" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health insurance companies</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care-reform" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care reform</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Jim Jaffe </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New America Media</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 13 Dec 2013 14:58:07 +0000 tara 3959 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3358-explaining-obamacare-guide-perplexed#comments Group Delivers 10,000 Letters to Gov. Jindal to Expand Medicaid https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3183-group-delivers-letters-gov-jindal-expand-medicaid <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Mon, 11/11/2013 - 09:40</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1Medicare.jpg?itok=RKJH4TKW"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1Medicare.jpg?itok=RKJH4TKW" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> From <a href="http://www.louisianaweekly.com/new-orleans-group-delivers-10000-letters-to-jindal-to-expand-medicaid-in-la/">Louisiana Weekly</a> and our content partner, <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/trending/2013/09/new-orleans-group-delivers-10000-letters-to-jindal-to-expand-medicaid-in-la.php">New America Media</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p> With close to 10,000 letters in tow, a group of community leaders traveled to Baton Rouge Friday morning to make an in-person delivery to Governor Piyush Jindal.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The Jeremiah Group, a faith-based, non-partisan community organization, started their “Life, Liberty, and Healthcare for All” letter campaign in July.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The signed letters urge Jindal to accept Medicaid expansion for Louisiana and were collected from residents across New Orleans.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “We are extremely disappointed that the legislative session ended without you accepting federal dollars to provide healthcare for 400,000 Louisiana residents – many of whom work hard for a minimum wage; a wage which is not enough for them to be able to afford healthcare insurance,” the letter reads.</p> <p>  </p> <p> According to a report from the Urban Institute, in the 25 states that have not voted to expand Medicaid, seven million adults between the ages of 19 and 64 will be left without Medicaid or any federal help to buy insurance.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The Jeremiah Group’s letter reminds Jindal that “you said during your second Inaugural Address that you ‘believed we all need to check our party affiliations, our ideologies and our political agendas at the door.’ So, there is simply no just or moral reason for Louisiana to refuse almost $16 billion dollars in federal funding while people continue to die because they lack health care.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Before the group headed off in a convoy to the capitol, they held a press conference at the St. Thomas Community Health Center.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Dr. Donald Irwin called the Affordable Care Act “crucially important,” but said that it is based on the expectation that all states would accept the expansion. “It’s such common sense,” Irwin said.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The people the 2010 law was most designed to help, those making less than 100 percent of the federal poverty level, will not be covered or receive help in federal subsidies for insurance in the states that don’t expand Medicaid.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “It represents a really serious problem for our state,” Irwin said. Irwin stressed the importance of keeping the issue at the forefront of pubic discussion and fighting misinformation.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “It will only help – it will not hurt,” said Jeremiah Group member Dr. Torin Sanders, of the expansion. “It will bring money. It will bring jobs. But more than that it will keep people from dying.”</p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2mediumjindal.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 335px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> Councilmember Latoya Cantrell joined the group on the trip. Cantrell noted the high rates of HIV and AIDS in Baton Rouge and New Orleans – some of the highest rates in the country.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “We need health care for all people,” Cantrell said. “People deserve that. This is about saving lives. This is about making the city and state healthy. It’s time for Louisiana to be at the top instead of the bottom.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> The Jeremiah Group’s letter lists several facts, including that Louisiana has the second highest rate of uninsured residents in the country, and some of the nation’s highest rates of diabetes, cancer, infectious disease, preventable hospitalizations, low infant birth weight and premature death.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The letter also reminds Jindal that the federal government will pay 100 percent of the cost of Medicaid expansion for the first three years and 90 percent of the cost after 10 years: “The state of Louisiana will SAVE money by accepting Medicaid expansion.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> “This is tantamount to killing people,” said community activist Barbara Major. “The poor and most vulnerable are being thrown away.” Major chided Jindal for his “lack of humanity.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Jacqueline Jones, executive director and lead organizer for the Jeremiah Group, said that Friday’s trip to Baton Rouge is just one step. “The work is just beginning,” Jones said. She described the group’s plans for a massive voter registration drive followed by delivering voters to the polls for the 2015 gubernatorial election.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “It’s not about Obama, it’s about the care,” Sanders said.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “Governor Jindal,” the letter concludes, “you have the opportunity to save thousands of lives by accepting Medicaid Expansion for the State of Louisiana.”</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/governor-jindal" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">governor jindal</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/bobby-jindal" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">bobby jindal</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care-reform" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care reform</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/medicaid" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">medicaid</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/medicaid-expansion" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">medicaid expansion</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/medicare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">medicare</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/affordable-care-act" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Affordable Care Act</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-insurance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health insurance</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Kari Harden</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Mon, 11 Nov 2013 14:40:31 +0000 tara 3833 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3183-group-delivers-letters-gov-jindal-expand-medicaid#comments Thousands of Health Policies Canceled Due to ACA Change https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3137-thousands-health-policies-canceled-due-affordable-care-act-change <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Mon, 10/28/2013 - 11:02</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumhealthcarereform_4.jpg?itok=Z06rUE0X"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumhealthcarereform_4.jpg?itok=Z06rUE0X" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> From our content partner, <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/10/thousands-of-health-policies-cancelled-due-to-aca-change.php">New America Media</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p> SAN FRANCISCO – When Alemaz Belay got a letter from Blue Shield of California last month, notifying her that her health care policy would no longer be effective come Jan. 1, 2014 “due to new requirements for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA),” and that her premium was going to increase, she was understandably upset.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “I thought the (health reform law) was going to make health care more affordable and not more expensive,” said Belay, 57, an Ethiopian-born single mother of three in the San Francisco Bay area.</p> <p>  </p> <p> One of the promises President Obama made when signing the health reform bill into law was that people who liked their doctor and health care plan would be able to keep them.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Belay (who declined to use her real name for privacy reasons ) said Blue Shield notified her that her premium was going to increase from the current $402 to $586 a month. Her deductible would be twice what she is paying now, $3,500.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Belay is among some 120,000 Blue Shield customers -- which represent about 60 percent of its individual market -- who received such a letter in recent weeks. Other insurance companies have cancelled policies, telling their customers that their existing policies fall short of the 10 “essential health benefits” the ACA requires all plans to include beginning Jan.1, 2014, the day the health care law is fully implemented. Kaiser Permanente in California has sent notices to 160,000 of its customers who have individual plans, according to Kaiser Health News.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The new ACA-compliant policies, Blue Shield spokesperson Sean Barry pointed out, will be more comprehensive in that they will cover such benefits as prescription drugs, mental health treatment and maternity care.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Additionally, insurers cannot reject people with medical problems or charge them higher prices. It removes annual and lifetime caps on coverage of essential health benefits.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “The additional security offered by these benefits has a tradeoff attached to it,” Barry said.</p> <p>  </p> <p> An estimated 14 million people -- 2 million of them in California -- buy their own health coverage because they don’t get it through their jobs. But because every individual is required to have health insurance come Jan.1, 2014, legal residents in California either will try to enroll in Medi-Cal – the health insurance program for low-income people – or buy their insurance on the online insurance market called Covered California. Those who buy their insurance on the marketplace could qualify for federal subsidies if their household income is between 138 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level -- $21,400 to $62,040 for a family of two.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Barry said that if Belay and others whose policies have been withdrawn don’t take any action, Blue Shield will automatically move them into similar plans, some of which might be more costly, some less.</p> <p>  </p> <p> He said Blue Shield would like to work with their customers to help them remain with the company.</p> <p>  </p> <p> But Belay said the hike in her monthly premium is going to force her to shop on Covered California.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “I would have preferred not to have to do it,” she said, “but now I will.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/10/thousands-of-health-policies-cancelled-due-to-aca-change.php">New America Media</a></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/affordable-care-act" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Affordable Care Act</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/insurance-companies" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">insurance companies</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care-reform" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care reform</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-insurance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health insurance</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/blue-cross-blue-shield" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">blue cross blue shield</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/kaiser-permanente" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">kaiser permanente</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-laws" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health laws</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Viji Sundaram</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New America Media</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Mon, 28 Oct 2013 15:02:38 +0000 tara 3745 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3137-thousands-health-policies-canceled-due-affordable-care-act-change#comments Low-Income Health Programs Are Crucial to Success of Healthcare Reform https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2243-low-income-health-programs-are-crucial-success-healthcare-reform <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Mon, 03/11/2013 - 09:37</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/2mediumhealthcare.jpg?itok=39ITh6Rz"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/2mediumhealthcare.jpg?itok=39ITh6Rz" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> From <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/03/low-income-health-programs-need-to-live-on.php">New America Media</a> and the <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/">Sacramento Bee</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Op-Ed</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> SACRAMENTO--The state legislative session is now in full swing, and lobbyists and advocates are descending on Sacramento to talk health care coverage – who should be eligible and how they should get it.</p> <p>  </p> <p> It's a debate you might have expected Obamacare to end. But though California and millions in our state will benefit when the president's plan kicks in next January, about 3 million to 4 million Californians, the majority of whom are legal residents, will remain uninsured.</p> <p>  </p> <p> It's an unconscionable hole that will cost California dearly over the long term. Just ask Mercedes Montano, a 27-year-old from Los Angeles, who until recently was a pre-med student at California State University, Los Angeles. Like many Californians, Montano's mother brought her here from Mexico when she was 7, to better their lives. "My parents worked hard, paid our taxes, and made me study to get good grades," she said. Her dream was to become a primary care doctor to serve her community.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Then a tingling sensation began in her limbs, growing so bad that soon she couldn't feel them. Eventually she lost the use of an arm and a leg. Her condition left her desperate. But as an undocumented resident, she couldn't get health insurance through school. Instead she went to a chiropractor, who only confirmed she needed medical attention.</p> <p>  </p> <p> After scraping together $600 for an exam, Montano was diagnosed with a degenerative disease causing pinched nerves along her spine. The doctor said the condition could have been detected in childhood and that early treatment would have prevented these severe problems. But she never had access to medical insurance, didn't know how to get help, and went without regular checkups as a child. The doctor recommended surgery, but Montano didn't bother to ask the cost.</p> <p>  </p> <p> "No matter what it was, I couldn't afford it," she said. Instead, she goes to a chiropractor three times a week, struggling to pay between $600 and $900 a month to keep the use of her arms and legs.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Montano had no choice but to drop out of school and get a job to pay for the therapy she can afford. This is a crazy way for a health care system to operate, one that crushes dreams and ultimately does not save us money. Eventually people like Montano do seek medical help, usually when the pain has grown so bad they can no longer ignore it, often at a time things have worsened beyond any chance of paying for it, sometimes when their lives are already ruined.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumobamademocrat%20%28NAM%29_1.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 335px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> Californians collectively foot the bill. The cost gets passed on to all of us in the form of uncompensated care and higher insurance premiums. We need a cost-effective, efficient, and humane way for all Californians, including Montano, to access basic health care services and preventive care that provides checkups and screenings to catch problems before they become crises. It might cost $30 to get a flu shot. But end up in the hospital with influenza and we'll pay thousands.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Fortunately, a solution is already in place. Two years ago, low-income health programs were set up in 52 of California's 58 counties to provide a temporary method of providing care to many uninsured Californians until Obamacare starts in 2014.</p> <p>  </p> <p> While the programs offer more limited coverage than Medi-Cal or private insurance, they do offer the critical basics – including preventive and primary care services like check-ups and screenings.</p> <p>  </p> <p> But these programs expire at the end of 2013 when Obamacare kicks in, and the 500,000 Californians in them will get shifted into full Medi-Cal coverage. However, Californians like Montano will be left out and still need help.</p> <p>  </p> <p> It makes no sense to let this critical community infrastructure dissolve. These county-based programs should continue to cover the remaining uninsured. The state should maintain its support to California counties that operate these invaluable programs, and find other ways to fund safety-net health providers in the few counties that don't.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Keeping these county low-income health programs open will ensure that access to care is consistent across California for the remaining uninsured. The state wouldn't be writing the counties a blank check – it would provide more transparency and accountability, tied to actual patients enrolled, with counties accountable to provide the preventative basics, not just episodic, emergency room care. Ultimately all Californians should save money as more people receive checkups and fewer end up in emergency rooms.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The people who would walk through the doors of these low-income health programs, like Montano, are the future of California. Our success as a state is inextricably bound to theirs. Immigrants like Montano arrive healthy and want to live responsible and productive lives.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Keeping them healthy is good for our economy. Young strivers like Montano can become tomorrow's doctors, high-tech workers and engineers. But simply crossing our fingers and hoping they'll somehow stay healthy, without making it easier for them to do so, is self-defeating. Investing in our human capital is the best way to fuel our state's growth. We are in this together.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> <em>Daniel Zingale is a senior vice president at the California Endowment, a private philanthropic health foundation. He is a leader of the Health Happens Here campaign (<a href="http://www.healthhappenshere.org/">www.healthhappenshere.org</a>.)</em></p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/03/low-income-health-programs-need-to-live-on.php">New America Media</a> and the <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/">Sacramento Bee</a></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care-reform" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care reform</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/california-health-care" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">california health care</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/affordable-care-act" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Affordable Care Act</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/president-obama" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">President Obama</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ill-health" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ill health</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/access-health-care" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">access to health care</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-insurance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health insurance</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/obamacare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Obamacare</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Daniel Zingale</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New America Media</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:37:56 +0000 tara 2496 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2243-low-income-health-programs-are-crucial-success-healthcare-reform#comments The Long and Necessary March to American Health Care Reform https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1245-long-and-necessary-march-american-health-care-reform <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Mon, 06/18/2012 - 20:29</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumhealthcarereform_1.jpg?itok=j1Z9BGy9"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumhealthcarereform_1.jpg?itok=j1Z9BGy9" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> Talk of the end of American exceptionalism seems to be everywhere lately, but in at least one area, the United States inarguably reigns supreme.  Currently, per capita health care expenditures in the U.S. are approaching $8,000 a year, far more than anywhere else in the world.  The nation with the second-highest per capita cost, <a href="http://247wallst.com/2012/03/29/countries-that-spend-the-most-on-health-care/3/">Norway</a>, spends $2,500 less per person per year.  What do Americans get for their money?  A life expectancy of <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2102.html">78.2</a> years, slightly ahead of Panama and Libya.  By almost any measure, the planet’s richest country also has the least cost-effective health care system, delivering average treatment to most citizens at ridiculously high costs.  </p> <p>  </p> <p> For millions of Americans, life-threatening illnesses mean not only painful treatment and medical uncertainty, but also the prospect of financial ruin.  Without a guaranteed medical safety net for all citizens, serious medical diagnoses can mean bankruptcy, divorce, and foreclosure.  Americans are certainly healthier than they were 100 years ago, but the improvements have come with a substantial cost.  The longer life spans, better disease detection, and wider array of sophisticated treatment options that have improved life have all also substantially driven up costs and jeopardized the availability of treatment for <a href="http://www.kaiseredu.org/issue-modules/us-health-care-costs/background-brief.aspx#footnote8">millions</a>. </p> <p> So how could the nation that gave its citizens the G.I. Bill and Social Security, leave millions uninsured, at risk, and dangerously unhealthy? </p> <p>                  </p> <p> Minnesota Congresswoman and Tea Party darling <a href="http://wonkette.com/468681/bachmann-people-without-health-insurance-should-be-free-to-roll-the-dice-of-life">Michelle Bachman</a> once claimed, “There are people who just decide they want to roll the dice and take their chances that they won’t need insurance.<strong>”</strong>  Her statement was widely derided but, oddly enough, spoke to a fundamental problem with our current health care system.  Younger Americans simply don’t suffer the heart attacks, strokes, and osteoporosis that drive older Americans to the doctor.  Workers just entering the labor market, who often don’t receive health coverage through work, could make the rational decision to spend their scarce dollars on other basics like food and rent, rather than insuring themselves against risks that probably won’t materialize anytime soon.  Indeed, the <a href="http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/7451-07.pdf">Kaiser Family Foundation</a> found 28 percent of Americans between 26 and 34 were uninsured in 2010. </p> <p>  </p> <p> Additionally, workers who can’t afford health coverage on their own and who don’t have the kind of stable jobs that provide it, may have little choice but to live without insurance.  These workers often have no choice but to put off treatment when signs of medical trouble surface, hoping to save a few bucks on doctor visits when the problem goes away.  Indeed, despite Bachmann and other conservatives’ rosy vision of carefree youths gallivanting about without insurance, a 2007 Kaiser Family Foundation report found that working families make up 80 percent of those without health insurance. </p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumObamaStateofUnion.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 400px" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> When the uninsured are unable to pay out of pocket for preventive care and later need treatment, they become emergency room patients.  This is more than just a human tragedy, since the country as a whole subsidizes those who have to turn to emergency care when they can’t afford anything else.  These costs become absorbed by society as a whole, including the insured, thanks to a Reagan-era law known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).</p> <p>  </p> <p> Since the passage of the EMTALA in 1986, emergency rooms accepting federal funds have been required to stabilize patients, regardless of their ability to pay.  Originally intended as the “Patient Anti-Dumping Act,” this presumably well-intentioned law has created a bizarre, expensive, and rigid requirement that emergency rooms provide treatment to those who can’t pay for it.  Therefore, today, the poorest Americans are given a very basic level of health care, but rather than have access to the kind of prevention that might keep them healthy and out of emergency rooms, they  end up  requiring urgent care, run up huge bills, and when they are unable to pay, the rest of the country is stuck with the check. </p> <p>  </p> <p>  The number of uninsured Americans at risk of falling through the cracks in this way has only swollen in recent years.  A <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/152162/americans-uninsured-2011.aspx">Gallup poll</a> found that from January 2008 to December 2011, the ranks of the uninsured swelled from just under 15 percent to close to 18 percent.  One proven solution to this problem is to have everyone pitch in and provide a basic health care safety net for all.  When a citizen needs help, they can turn to a system that receives support from everyone, and when healthy,  said citizen can  contribute until they require help once again.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumtruman_0.jpg" style="width: 368px; height: 468px" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> Countries such as Germany began experimenting with this type of compulsory insurance system, a precursor to universal coverage, as early as 1883.  Other European governments, such as those of Sweden and France, opted to subsidize worker-formed “mutual benefit societies,” which operated under the principle of mutual defense against the illness of the sick.  While the U.S. relied on states to set health care policy during this period, the burgeoning American progressive movement began calling for a national health care policy. </p> <p>  </p> <p> Fans of AMC’s <em>Mad Men</em> should appreciate the AMA’s contribution to the health care debate lexicon, which came around Teddy Roosevelt’s  time.  According to historians, the group conjured the loaded term “socialized medicine” in the early 1900s.  The phrase would often be deployed against efforts for universal health care in the coming years, along with other clever forms of fear-mongering.</p> <p>  </p> <p> When anti-German fears of the “Prussianization of America” rose up in the wake of World War One, the opportunity to assure universal health care early in the 20<sup>th</sup> century was lost, according to Jill Lepore in an article in the <em>New Yorker</em>.  Opponents used anti-German fear to block reform at both the national and state level, defeating a constitutional amendment designed to guarantee universal coverage in California by telling voters that universal health care was “Born in Germany” and asking “Do you want it in California?”  The pamphlet asked this question right next to a picture of the Kaiser.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In the decades during and after World War Two, national health reform efforts lost steam.  As the county geared up for and fed the war effort, demand for labor exploded just as young, male workers were sent overseas.  Government controls prevented companies from offering higher salaries, and  to attract valuable workers remaining stateside, employers offered full medical coverage at rock-bottom prices.   During World War Two, workers received care from company clinics at Henry J. Kaiser’s California shipyards for a mere 50 cents from every <a href="ttp://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/27/health/la-he-health-insurance-history-20120227">paycheck</a>.   No doubt the doctors’ offices of years ago were very different from those of today.  Without digital scans, ultrasound, and a menu of other fancy testing and treatment options, medical coverage remained a relatively inexpensive way for employers to keep their workers content and on the job. </p> <p>  </p> <p> Once again, using the ominous-sounding “socialized medicine,” opponents of reform scared off Franklin D. Roosevelt when he considered adding a health benefit to Social Security around this time.   Fear remained an effective tool for blocking efforts to expand coverage on a national level in the decades during and after World War Two.  When Harry Truman championed a comprehensive health care system in 1945, opponents went back to the “fear of socialism” well to kill the plan.  Engaging in the kind of hyperbole that has become a hallmark of the health care debate, Republican Robert Taft declared Truman’s proposal “the most socialistic measure this Congress has ever had before it.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> The Republican Party would once again employ fear of the Soviet lifestyle against reform when liberals looked to guarantee health care for the elderly.  In 1961, Ronald Reagan warned “it’s very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project; most people are a little reluctant to oppose anything that suggests medical care for people who possibly can’t afford it."  The American Medical Association (AMA) spread Reagan’s words by distributing vinyl records with the Gipper’s dire predictions.  Despite  Reagan’s dark forecast that "pretty soon your son won't decide when he's in school, where he will go, or what he will do for a living," Congress soon extended Social Security to cover health insurance for the elderly, later known as Medicare.  </p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumhillaryclinton.jpg" style="width: 400px; height: 500px" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> When an accomplished, Yale-educated first lady entered the White House in 1993, right-wing paranoia found a target almost as inviting as the Soviet Union.  It was a less than warm welcome for the debut of the Clinton health care package that year.  The plan, which would have provided options for every citizen to choose among private plans, sparked outrage.  "It was too big, too complex, too government," according to Newt Gingrich, looking back on the plan after he had left the House.  In fact, many of the elements have been praised by experts, and its failure was largely due to a well-orchestrated effort from Republicans and the <a href="ttp://www.tnr.com/article/hillary-was-right">health insurance</a> industry.  Once again the AMA was there on Hillary Care, contributing $3 million to help derail the <a href="http://sickothemovie.com/checkup/">plan</a>.</p> <p>  </p> <p> When President Barack Obama  entered the White House in 2009, one of the first tasks he took on was the  U.S. health care system.  The plan the administration devised addressed the most basic problem with U.S. health care, ensuring that the vast majority had care, that nearly everyone pitched in by buying insurance (with subsidies for the very poor), and that in exchange for massive new business insurance, companies could no longer <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/opinion/krugman-hurray-for-health-reform.html?_r=1">discriminate against those with pre-existing conditions</a>.  Because the government was prevented from competing with private companies, the United States will still be short of the care provided by other countries, but it is a solid step towards matching the rest of the developed world. </p> <p>  </p> <p> With the Supreme Court poised rule on the constitutionality of Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act --  including the critical health insurance mandate, a basic mechanism to ensure the whole country contributes to a more predicable and fair program than our current haphazard system --the future for American <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/29/local/la-me-healthcare-arguments-20120329">health care reform</a> remains uncertain.   </p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> <em>Matthew Rudow is a contributing writer at</em> Highbrow Magazine.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care-reform" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care reform</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/obama" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Obama</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/democrats" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Democrats</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/social-security" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Social Security</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/medicare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">medicare</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ronald-reagan" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Ronald Reagan</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/life-expectancy" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">life expectancy</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/medical-care" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">medical care</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-insurance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health insurance</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/michelle-bachman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Michelle Bachman</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/socialized-medicine" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">socialized medicine</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/emergency-medical-treatment-and-labor-act" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/republicans" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Republicans</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/hillary-clinton" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Hillary Clinton</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/obamacare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Obamacare</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Matthew Rudow</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Creative Commons, Flickr</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Tue, 19 Jun 2012 00:29:15 +0000 tara 1156 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1245-long-and-necessary-march-american-health-care-reform#comments Briefing Focuses on the Benefits of the Affordable Care Act https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/briefing-focuses-benefits-affordable-care-act <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Tue, 02/28/2012 - 13:30</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumhealthcarereform.jpg?itok=gF7GAmkL"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumhealthcarereform.jpg?itok=gF7GAmkL" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> From <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/news/">New America Media</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p> SAN FRANCISCO – While some say health care reform may not have gone far enough, the “three big things” it delivers are greater protection for consumers against insurance companies through the new health Patient’s Bill of Rights, expansions in health care coverage and control of health care costs.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “(The Affordable Care Act (ACA)) is the biggest thing that has happened in health care policy in generations,” asserted Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access, a nonprofit health advocacy group as he gave an overview of the act and its impact on California’s communities, at an ethnic media briefing here at New America Media.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “Implementing it,” he said, is the law of the land and has a direct impact on all our communities.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> That was the resounding assurance given by Wright and others on the front lines of health care at the briefing New America Media organized at its headquarters on Feb. 21. Sixteen ethnic media representatives from the Bay Area attended.</p> <p>  </p> <p> As things stand now, Californians, especially people of color, are more likely to be uninsured, some because of “big holes” in Medi-Cal -- the state’s name for Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for indigent families, pregnant women, seniors and those with disabilities.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “You may be penniless, but if you had no children, you were denied enrollment in Medi-Cal,” Wright said, noting that hole in that public safety net has been closed by the ACA that was signed into law in March 2010. Approximately two-thirds of California’s 7 million uninsured are now likely to qualify for Medi-Cal, even those who are childless.</p> <p>  </p> <p> And for the first time, Americans who earn less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level (which is approximately $14,000 for an individual and $29,000 for a family of four) will be eligible to enroll in Medi-Cal, Wright pointed out.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Additionally, starting January 1, 2014, no insurance company can deny legal residents health coverage because of pre-existing health conditions. An estimated 50 to 129 million non-elderly Americans have some type of pre-existing health condition, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Many of them were locked out of the insurance market because of that.</p> <p>  </p> <p> But even before 2014, Americans with pre-existing health conditions can get health insurance through the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP), a temporary high-risk pool program created by the new law. Around 1,700 Californians have so far enrolled in the state’s PCIP since it went into effect last March, Wright noted.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Luisa Buada is executive director of the East Palo Alto-based Ravenswood Family Health Center, whose clientele is largely from the Hispanic, Pacific Islander and Black communities. Many are either underinsured or uninsured, Buada noted, saying her clinic has been ahead of the curve in health care reform by taking steps to transform it into a “health home” facility, thereby saving San Mateo county hundreds of thousands of dollars.</p> <p>  </p> <p> One of the strategies under the ACA is to try to contain the costs of unnecessary hospital admissions and readmissions soon after discharge, by providing ongoing care by physician-led teams coordinating primary, acute and behavioral care in a “health home” setting. Ravenswood has begun doing that.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “They prevent people from going to emergency rooms,” Buada said, noting that health homes focus on “wellness rather than on illness.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Panelist Mike Odeh, a policy associate with Children Now, said that families should be made aware of such provisions in the ACA as banning insurance companies from denying children with pre-existing conditions coverage, as well as placing annual dollar limits on their coverage.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Another provision that should be well publicized is that children can now remain on their parent’s employer-sponsored insurance plan until they turn 26.</p> <p>  </p> <p> He said there are currently about 700,000 children in California who are eligible for health care coverage but aren’t enrolled, mostly because their families don’t know about all the programs out there or because of such systemic barriers as lack of language skills.</p> <p>  </p> <p> It is those same barriers that are keeping many families from taking advantage of the Healthy Kids program that currently operates in some 30 California counties and is open even to children who are undocumented, Odeh said.</p> <p>  </p> <p> A small business owner in San Francisco, Virginia Donohue, talked about how the ACA has given her some financial relief in wanting to do the “moral” thing by her 25 employees</p> <p>  </p> <p> When she opened Pet Camp back in 2000, she said, insurance coverage for her employees cost her $30,000 per year, with no cost to her employees. Today, because insurance companies have been raising the cost of premiums at will, she is spending $90,000 on coverage that “is not as good,” with her employees picking up 20 percent of the cost of their premium.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Thanks to the ACA, last year she was able to get the 35 percent federal tax credit employers with 25 or fewer full-time employees can now get on their insurance cost.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Starting January 2014, small businesses that purchase coverage through the Small Business Exchange will get a tax credit of up to 50 percent of what they pay to cover their employees.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “It would be great to let small business owners know of this,” Donohue said.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2012/02/nam-hosts-briefing-on-affordable-care-act.php">New America Media</a></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/affordable-care-act" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Affordable Care Act</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care-reform" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care reform</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-america-media" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">New America Media</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/president-obama" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">President Obama</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Viji Sundaram</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New America Media</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Tue, 28 Feb 2012 18:30:49 +0000 tara 579 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/briefing-focuses-benefits-affordable-care-act#comments California Leads the Way in Health Care Reform https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/california-leads-way-health-care-reform <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Tue, 11/29/2011 - 14:13</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumCaliforniaHealth_0.jpg?itok=swEWwnKK"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumCaliforniaHealth_0.jpg?itok=swEWwnKK" width="480" height="360" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> From <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/news/">New America Media</a>: LOS ANGELES – As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to review the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), California health experts are confident that the state will continue to lead the way on health reform.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The Supreme Court announced recently that it will examine various elements of the legislation, including the legality of the individual mandate to buy coverage, whether the federal government can legally require states to expand Medicaid, and whether it is too early to rule on this because the law won’t be implemented fully until 2014.</p> <p>  </p> <p> President Obama’s health care reform law has been the largest action to expand and improve the delivery of health care in the United States, a move that many health care advocates believe might not come again. It builds on the existing state-based system of private insurance; and because states are in various phases of working toward the 2014 deadline, the Supreme Court’s decision in March could be a setback for health care reform.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Still, many health care advocates are hopeful that the Supreme Court will uphold the law.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Dr. Felix Aguilar, chief medical officer of the South Central
Family Health Center in Los Angeles, is excited about this next phase of the “game,” he says, likening the Supreme Court to a referee who is going to clarify the rules of the game. If the game is over at the federal level, he said, health care reform advocates need to pick it up at the state level. While he is optimistic that the mandate will be upheld, he says, “If it doesn’t pass, then I’ll be calling the governor the next day, to not lose momentum.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Opponents of the health care reform law argue that it is an overreach of federal power to require that nearly all Americans have health insurance.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Dr. Aguilar understands the critics, saying their view “is rooted in the American spirit of individualism, of (picking yourself up by your) bootstraps.” But, he says, this isn’t the whole picture of what it means to be American. “We are also rooted in the spirit of cooperation and taking care of each other,” he said.</p> <p>  </p> <p> California has the highest number of uninsured persons of any state. Through the work of health and consumer advocates, the state has focused on building the infrastructure for future coverage expansion and implementing as many of the changes as fast as it can.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “In California, regardless of whatever happens in the Supreme Court, health reform will continue,” said Peter Harbage, a policy expert and president of Harbage Consulting in Sacramento. “It already has made a positive impact and it will continue to make a positive impact,” said Harbage, who worked as assistant secretary for health at the California Health and Human Services Agency under Gov. Gray Davis, and as special assistant to the administrator of the federal health under the Clinton administration.</p> <p>  </p> <p> One of the most popular features of the Affordable Care Act that has already gone into effect allows parents who are insured to cover their adult children up to age 26, even if their child is married.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Those who have been turned away from their insurance company because of a preexisting condition now have alternatives for coverage, and children with preexisting conditions can no longer be denied coverage.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Richard Figueroa, director of health and human services for The California Endowment, said he was “pleased that the Supreme Court took up the challenge.” The California Endowment was among the organizations that filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to take up the challenge and, Figueroa said, “We are confident it is going to be found constitutional.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> The California Endowment, which was set up to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved Californians, is now focused on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Dr. Robert Ross, the foundation’s president and CEO, said in a press release, “We know that the Affordable Care Act will positively impact the health of communities in our state and its implementation is core to our mission of ensuring all Californians have access to health care services.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> “We have to rely on California’s strong history of covering people, of taking on health care challenges including trying to implement health reform on our own; and rely on policy makers, who - if parts were struck down - would still seek to maximize coverage opportunities of the federal law,” he said.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Depending on what the Supreme Court decides, state governments may have to reassess whether and how they plan to move forward with health care reform. But in California, says Harbager, the changes that have already taken place would be “nearly impossible to be undone.”</p> <p> -- <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2011/11/in-california-health-reform-nearly-impossible-to-be-undone.php">New America Media</a></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care-reform" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care reform</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/california" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">California</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/president-obama" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">President Obama</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/supreme-court" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Supreme Court</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/affordable-care-act" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Affordable Care Act</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Liz Gonzalez</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:13:58 +0000 tara 270 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/california-leads-way-health-care-reform#comments