Historic Movement in Health Care
We have seen some historic movement in health care. The U. S. House of Representatives voted 219-212 late last night to approve the Senate health reform bill. In a mostly party-line vote, all 178 House Republicans and 34 Democrats voted against the measure. The House also voted 220-211 to approve the reconciliation bill, which includes a series of House-preferred changes to the Senate bill. The Senate bill (HR 3590) now goes to President Obama's desk, while the Senate must approve the House bill (HR 4872) before President Obama can sign it. Once the legislation this signed, we anticipate that there will be fewer uninsured Americans by 2014. But we don't have to wait that long to see changes: The good news is that this year there will be some improvements including more options for coverage for young adults, people with pre-existing conditions, and for prescription drugs for seniors. Access to healthcare is important and complex. It is one thing to have coverage, and another to find a provider who is accepting new patients with a specific type of insurance. We will continue to work in this area. One of my grantees, Crossroad Health Center, has recently expanded access to children in Westwood. Many of their patients are covered by Medicaid. This site is rapidly expanding and exceeding their projections because they are in a position to accept new pediatric patients. It will be challenging to expand primary care access, especially in underserved rural counties. The good news is that increasing coverage will make it more likely that healthcare providers will be interested and willing to align their services. Francie Wolgin
without insurance have to stay on parents plan and not apply for Medicaid if they choose to live on their own? Will the adult children need to live in the same household as the parents?
The Secretary is now charged with writing the definitions and regulations that will guide this legislation, where the dependent resides may be included, but we don't know yet.
Thank you for your question. It is likely that any young adult 21-26 who has
another or better health care coverage option will be able to use it. The advantage I anticipate (subject certainly to the definitions and regulations) is that for parents who would
wish to continue their young adult child's health care coverage will have the
option to do so. I expect individuals chosing to continue the coverage under a parent's
policy while in school or seeking employment with health care care benefits will
do so because this choice was more cost effective for ongoing care or less
expensive than an individual plan.
Francie