TaxAlmanac:Featured article/April 1, 2010

From TaxAlmanac

Health Care Act of 2010

Health Care Act of 2010

SUMMARY

The final health insurance reform legislation (the Senate bill as improved by the Reconciliation Bill) that the House passed on March 21st will ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care and significantly reduce long‐term health care costs. The non‐partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has determined that it will provide coverage to 32 million more people, or more than 94% percent of Americans, while lowering health care costs over the long term. This historic legislation will reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the next ten years, with $1.2 trillion in additional deficit reduction in the following 10 years.

QUALITY, AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL AMERICANS

• Bars insurance companies from discriminating based on pre‐existing conditions, health status, and gender.
• Provides Americans with better coverage and the information they need to make informed decisions about their health insurance.
• Creates health insurance exchanges – competitive marketplaces where individuals and small business can buy affordable health care coverage in a manner similar to that of big businesses today.
• Offers premium tax credits and cost‐sharing assistance to low and middle income Americans, providing families and small businesses with the largest tax cut for health care in history.
• Insures access to immediate relief for uninsured Americans with pre‐existing conditions on the brink of medical bankruptcy.
• Creates a reinsurance program in support of employers who offer retirees age 55‐64 health coverage.
• Invests substantially in Community Health Centers to expand access to health care in communities where it is needed most.
• Empowers the Department of Health and Human Services and state insurance commissioners to conduct annual reviews of new plans demanding unjustified, egregious premium increases.