First Round of Health Care Changes Go Into Effect

More than six months after the bill was signed, some aspects of the new health care law go into effect. As of yesterday, September 23, any insurance plan that is new or renewed will have to follow the new guidelines as outlined by the Affordable Care Act.

Curious what the provisions entail? Any new or renewed plan must incorporate the following into their plans:

• Elimination of lifetime maximums for services.
• Offer coverage to children with pre-existing conditions.
• Broaden preventive care to provide certain preventive services without co-pays or
      cost-sharing.
• Allow adults up to age 26 to remain on their parents’ health plans.
• Prohibited from canceling or rescinding coverage.

In addition, high risk pools dictated by each state have been set up to offer coverage to those who have been denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. These changes are expected to affect millions of Americans.

Still, most don’t know just exactly how the new law will affect them. According to an Associated Press poll released earlier this week, more than half of respondents believe the changes will raise taxes, while a quarter of those polled think bureaucrats will be the ones to make decisions regarding people’s health.

Support for the law remains generally low, with 49 percent expressing their disapproval of the law according to a CBS/NY Times poll from last week. When asked about specific provisions, more people seemed to support it, showing there is still quite a bit of confusion over the law.

Both opponents and proponents are arguing over the benefits brought about by the new law. Proponents feel that public support will increase as provisions are rolled out and the flood of misinformation dies down. Opponents cite the unpopularity of the law and still want to repeal the law and think the approach of a one-size-fits-all, centralized health care system is not the way to reform America’s health care problems.

Politicians are still squabbling over costs. Republicans argue that insurance premiums continue to rise due to health care provisions but the administration thinks the law is being unfairly blamed. Insurance companies said rates will continue to rise and blame it on a variety of circumstances such as a young, healthy population dropping coverage, rising medical costs and inflation. And, they have also cited that costs of the new provisions cited above are priced into premiums as they create specific new costs to insurers.