The New Healthcare Law: What It Really Means

by Susan Baida and John Mills

Susan Baida and John Mills are co-founders of www.eCareDiary.com, an online community for caregivers and seniors. The site includes free resources for those seeking and providing long-term care, including a singular set of tools called the Care Diary, designed to make coordinating care and sharing information easy among family members and other caregivers. Susan Baida is a former marketing executive with Starwood Hotels, Estee Lauder, and Avon. John Mills was a member of the Clinton Task Force on National Health Reform and legislative director to U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. Susan and John are married and share a passion for empowering caregivers and seniors.

On Sunday night, March 21, 2010, the House of Representatives passed major healthcare reform legislation, passing a bill that was signed today by President Obama. This is an historic moment that has eluded numerous Presidents, including Harry Truman, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.

The legislation will provide health care coverage for an additional 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured, and provide important consumer protections for all Americans.

The struggle to pass healthcare reform has been difficult, at times nasty, and filled with misinformation. Now that it will be law, what exactly does it mean for the average person, and how will it affect our lives?

Who’s Affected

Women. This bill will help women both in terms of coverage and affordability of health insurance. Currently 19 percent of women are uninsured, for a variety of reasons. A smaller number of women receive health insurance coverage through their employers than men do, with 38 percent of women being insured through their jobs compared to 50 percent of men.

Additionally, a larger number of women receive dependent coverage through their spouses’ employers, with 24 percent being covered this way compared to 13 percent of men. Another 6 percent of women receive coverage in the individual insurance market. By providing greatly expanding health care coverage, the number of women who are uninsured should drop dramatically.

Additionally, a larger number of women receive dependent coverage through their spouses’ employers, with 24 percent being covered this way compared to 13 percent of men. Another 6 percent of women receive coverage in the individual insurance market. By providing greatly expanding health care coverage, the number of women who are uninsured should drop dramatically.

Additionally, the bill will help lower the cost of insurance for many women, since insurers now can charge women of childbearing age higher premiums than men in many states.

The bill eliminates this discriminatory practice by instituting community rating, a practice in which everyone is charged the same amount, including individuals and small businesses.

Children. Kids already benefit from the Children’s Health Insurance Program, but this bill provides additional benefits—the most important being the elimination of pre-existing condition restrictions for children, and allowing them to remain on their parents’ health insurance to age 26.

Uninsured. The bill provides much broader coverage by expanding health insurance to cover 32 million of the 46 million people who are currently uninsured. It achieves this through a combination of mandates to employers and individuals and expansion of government health insurance programs.

Who’s Left Out. It’s expected that approximately 14 million people will not qualify for coverage under the bill.

2010: What Goes Into Effect This Year

The bill is structured so that parts of the legislation will phase into law starting in 2010 and continue to phase in until 2020. There are many benefits that go into effect this year.

Elimination of Pre-existing Conditions for Children . The bill immediately eliminates the ability of insurers to deny coverage to children on the basis of a pre-existing condition. For adults, the ban on pre-existing conditions goes into effect in 2014. High-risk insurance pools (below) will be available to help them gain coverage in the meantime.

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