Washington, D.C.—An historic piece of legislation, awaiting a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, would dramatically improve health care for the people of Arkansas. A report from Families USA, the national organization for health care consumers, details how the bill will make health insurance more affordable and will eliminate insurance industry abuses that affect both the quality and availability of health insurance.
The Families USA report, “Health Coverage in Arkansas: How Will Health Reform Help?” details the changes that Arkansas businesses and families can expect to see.
“The pending health insurance reform bill in the U.S. House of Representatives is designed to provide peace of mind to Arkansas’s families by making health care and coverage more affordable and reliable. It will eliminate insurance company abuses, protect people from loss of coverage when they switch or lose jobs, and prevent people from having to run up huge debts or file for bankruptcy,” Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, said today.
“With this bill, we will finally—after decades of debate and delay—be able to implement true health insurance reform in this nation.”
The report explains how major changes in health coverage will particularly help residents of Arkansas:
• Gender and Health Status: Insurance companies will no longer be permitted to charge Arkansans higher premiums based on their health status or gender.
• Affordable Premiums: Premiums will be affordable for families, and there will be more and better insurance options. The House bill also contains a public plan option for Arkansans. Affordability has been a particular concern in Arkansas, where health premiums have risen 5.8 times more quickly than median earnings in the past decade.
• Aid for Small Business: Small businesses in Arkansas will receive tax credits to help with the cost of providing health care coverage for their employees.
• Caps on Cost-Sharing: Families and individuals in Arkansas will receive protection from high out-of-pocket costs.
• Low-Income Coverage: There will be an expanded Medicaid safety net for low-income people.
• Maintaining and Renewing Coverage: Individuals will be able to maintain affordable coverage and renew such coverage when they get sick.
• COBRA: Unemployed workers will have new options for quality coverage as alternatives to COBRA.
• The Uninsured: The House bill will provide health coverage for an additional 391,000 Arkansans who are currently uninsured.
• Medicare Improvements: The “doughnut hole” will disappear, and other personal expenses in Medicare will be covered.
• Pre-Existing Conditions: Insurance companies will no longer be able to discriminate against Arkansans based on a pre-existing condition.
• Spending Caps: Insurance companies will be forbidden to place annual or lifetime spending caps on Arkansans' insurance policies.
• Premium Value: More dollars spent on health care insurance premiums will go toward health care.
“These are hugely significant changes for Arkansas that will greatly improve the quality of life of its residents,” Pollack said. “These reforms will ease the burden of parents trying to provide health coverage for themselves and their children, and they will aid business owners in their efforts to provide their employees with essential benefits like health coverage.”
“As people around the country learn more about what is truly in the health reform legislation, they will strengthen their conviction that the status quo cannot be an option for our nation. It is time to act.”
