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Tag Archives: Health insurance
Young adults without insurance
| In six weeks, getting older may get a bit easierYoung adults historically are the biggest group of uninsured Americans. If you fall in this group, or know someone how does, we want to hear your story. It will help us make sure the new insurance marketplaces debuting Oct. 1 work for you.
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In about six weeks, health reform will unveil one of its biggest improvements for Americans in need of health insurance.
And if you’re a young adult who doesn’t have coverage – either because you are too old to be on your parents’ policy, your job doesn’t offer insurance, you’re in school, or you just think insurance is a drag – we want to specifically hear from you.
Are you a young adult without insurance? Share your story and help us make sure this new change works for you.
Starting Oct. 1, Americans without coverage can now find health insurance policies offered in their state in one spot on the Internet – and compare them by price and types of coverage. These online ‘marketplaces’ will also spell out who can get financial assistance to pay for their insurance, and how to get that help.
Why are we interested in hearing specifically from people age 19 to 29? Because this group historically is uninsured at higher rates than any other age group. Most don’t have access to insurance – they’re part-time workers, self-employed, or trying to find that first steady job with benefits.
Obamacare already helped 3 million young adults get coverage by requiring insurance companies let their parents keep them on their policies until age 26. Now, the marketplaces should help millions more find coverage and help those struggling pay for it.
If you are young and uninsured, or know someone who is, we need to hear about it. The reasons why you can’t get insurance will help us track whether the law meets your needs.
Even if you don’t fit this age group, you probably have a son or granddaughter who does. Please forward this email to anyone you know who is young and uninsured so we can hear from them.
Sincerely, Blake Hutson, Consumers Union Policy and Action from Consumer Reports
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ACA
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Regional Administrator Calvin Goings |
Affordable Care Act, Part 2
America’s 28 million small businesses are the backbone of our economy, creating two out of every three net new jobs and employing half of America’s workforce. From mom-and-pop stores and restaurants, to high-tech startups and productive manufacturers, small businesses are helping to drive our economy and create jobs in our local communities.
Many small business owners consider their employees to be part of their family, and providing benefits such as health care is one important tool they have to help retain their talented workforce and compete for skilled employees.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is committed to giving small business owners the resources they need to start and grow a business– including access to critical information about how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) works.
Under the Affordable Care Act, small employers will have more options.
First, starting January 1st, 2014, small businesses with generally up to 50 full-time equivalent employees will be able to purchase health insurance through the online health insurance marketplace for small businesses, known as SHOP.
The SHOP Marketplace will offer employers a choice of qualified health plans from different private health insurers and make it easier for employers to make side-by-side comparisons between these plans, based on price and benefits.
SHOP also offers employers and their employees access to health insurance plans that must include a package of “Essential Health Benefits” like coverage for doctor visits, preventive care, hospitalization and prescriptions. Any many small employers may be eligible for tax credits of up to 50% of their premium costs if they choose to purchase coverage through SHOP.
Enrollment starts on October 1st for coverage beginning January 1, 2014.
The Affordable Care Act allows small employers to offer health coverage in a way that makes sense for their business and works for their bottom line. And the SBA is committed to leveraging our resources and federal partnerships to connect you with the facts and resources you need to understand the law.
I hope you have found this information useful. Please feel free to forward this to your friends and colleagues. If you have comments or questions for me, please contact Connie Marshall in my office at connie.marshall@sba.gov. Sincerely, Calvin CALVIN W. GOINGS
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The Affordable Care Act 101 With SBA and Small Business Majority
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As part of a robust education and outreach effort, the Small Business Administration and Small Business Majority are launching the Affordable Care Act 101 weekly webinar series. Small business owners can learn the basics of the Affordable Care Act and what it means for their company and employees, including insurance reforms, the small business health care tax credit, the new health insurance marketplaces, and employer shared responsibility provisions. Each week, SBA representatives will walk through the key pieces of the law so that small business owners can understand the facts and make the best, informed decisions they can about providing health insurance for their employees.
The Affordable Care Act 101 will take place every Thursday from now through the opening of the marketplaces in October. Below are the registration links for the next three presentations. Registration for later webinars will be available shortly.
Thursday, August 1 at 11:00 AM PDT: Click to Register Thursday, August 8 at 11:00 AM PDT: Click to Register Thursday, August 15 at 11:00 AM PDT: Click to Register
If you have any questions, please contact Chris Van Es at Christopher.vanes@sba.gov. Please forward this announcement to any interested stakeholders.
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~~ Fact Sheet ~~ ObamaCares
GET THE FACTS ON HOW OBAMACARE IS ALREADY WORKING:
1.
THE 80/20 REBATE RULE:
If insurance companies
aren’t spending your premium dollars on your health
care — at least 80% – they’ve got to give you money
back. Insurance companies returned $1.1 billion last year,
benefiting 13 million Americans.
2.
YOUNG ADULTS STAY COVERED:
Children can
stay on their parent’s insurance plans until the age of
26. Already, 3.1 million previously uninsured young
adults have gained coverage.
.
Good health care is a vital piece of every American’s
daily life, and decisions about health are some of the
most personal and individual decisions anyone makes.
But too many Americans are left to struggle each
and every day with a system that works better for the
health insurance companies than it does for them.
The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, builds on
what works in our health care system, and it fixes
what is broken, so that Americans can have access to
insurance plans that fit their budgets and are there
when they need them. It is a key piece of strengthening
the middle class in this country.
Obamacare is already making America’s health care
system work better for everyone. And that’s even for
those who have health insurance, because if you like
your plan, you can keep your plan. Over 70 million
children and adults with private insurance have been
able to receive preventive care – like annual checkups,
blood pressure screenings, and mammograms – for
free. When insurance companies overcharged for
care, Americans received a total of $1.1 billion in
direct rebates.
Lifetime limits are banned: no longer will Americans
go bankrupt because they fall seriously ill. More than
3 million young adults continued to have health care
coverage because they can stay on their parents’
insurance until the age of 26 and children with
pre-existing conditions can no longer be locked out
by insurance companies. States like New York,
California and Oregon have announced that monthly
premiums for their residents buying plans on their
own are set to decrease once the health insurance
Marketplace opens in October.
This is the kind of security that Americans deserve
and need to build a future for themselves and their
children. But there remains a concerted effort to
dismantle the law and move our country backwards.
Some members of the House have voted nearly 40
times to repeal the legislation – and have promised
to continue – while conservative groups have funded
$385 million in misleading advertising since 2010 –
outspending proponents 5 to 1. In the name of petty
politics, these groups are threatening the stability of
hard-working families.
OFA and its volunteers are taking action now to
combat these attacks. We will inform and empower
Americans to receive better care at a lower cost.
Starting October 1, millions more Americans can see
the benefits of Obamacare – and it’s our job to show
them how.
OBAMACARE FACT SHEET
BETTER COVERAGE, LOWER COSTS
PRINTED BY VOLUNTEERS
3.
ELIMINATING LIFETIME LIMITS:
Insurance
companies are no longer allowed to place an arbitrary
lifetime cap on your coverage, so if you or a family
member gets sick you won’t be billed into bankruptcy.
Already, 105 million Americans have seen this benefit.t
4.
RECEIVE FREE PREVENTIVE CARE:
Obamacare
ensures that you can receive preventive care services,
like vaccinations, mammograms, cancer screenings,
annual checkups, blood pressure and cholesterol tests
at no cost to you. Already, over 70 million Americans
have received free preventive care
Be a Seed for Change 
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