Tag Archives: insurance

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ACA

08/12/2013 Nativegrl77

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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Fact Sheet ObamaCares

08/04/2013 Nativegrl77

GET THE FACTS ON HOW OBAMACARE IS ALREADY WORKING:

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.

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

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

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

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What happened to Kelli

07/19/2013 Nativegrl77

We all have a health care story to tell. Just stand next to the office water cooler and you’ll hear the stories flow.
My co-worker Kelli shared this one with me:
“My older sister was diagnosed with lupus as a child. She spent much of her life in and out of hospitals and taking handfuls of expensive medications. Once diagnosed, no insurance plan would take her on. My family was stuck with our ‘major medical’ insurance, which only covered a percentage of hospitalizations but nothing else — none of her numerous prescription drugs or doctors’ visits were covered. This affected our whole family. It made it impossible for my parents to save money for our educations, their retirement, or anything else. We were always one illness away from financial disaster. If we’d had the health care law then, my family could’ve gotten better health insurance — because, under the new law, insurance companies can no longer deny coverage to children who have pre-existing conditions.”
Kelli told us her story. Will you share yours?
Maybe you have private insurance that fails to cover the services you need such as mental health care, maternity care, or prescription drug coverage. Maybe high co-payments and deductibles keep you from getting the health care you need. Maybe you’re uninsured simply because you can’t afford it or you’ve been turned down for health coverage after you got sick. Whatever your story may be, it matters.
Thanks to the health care law, change is on the way. Under the law, you won’t be denied health coverage because of a pre-existing condition. You won’t lose your health insurance when you get sick. You’ll soon have affordable insurance options through a new health care marketplace.
But right now, many women and their families are still struggling to pay for health coverage and get the care they need. Sadly, there are still families like Kelli’s. Please share your story today.
I love hearing from you. Thank you for fighting with us to advance the rights of women and their families.
Sincerely,

Judy Waxman Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights National

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Tara McGuinness, The White House – #ACA is good

07/19/2013 Nativegrl77

If you want tangible evidence of the way that the new health care law is already helping ordinary people, it’s worth having a conversation with one of the 8.5 million Americans who received rebates from their insurance companies this summer. Just ask the folks who got checks in the mail.

Because of the Affordable Care Act, insurers are required to spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on medical care, instead of overhead like salaries or advertising. And if an insurance company doesn’t meet that standard, it has to provide a rebate to its customers.

It’s a really big deal, and we want to make sure everyone understands how it works.

Here’s a graphic that breaks things down. Will you share it to help answer questions in your community?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/health-care-rebate

Thanks! Tara

Tara McGuinness Senior Communications Advisor The White House

@HealthCareTara

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Judy Waxman, National Women’s Law Center

06/28/2013 Nativegrl77

Here are some things we don’t think you should be punished for:

Having a chronic disease.
Taking care of an elderly parent.
Living in a neighborhood where exercising outdoors isn’t safe.

Seems obvious, right? But a loophole in the health care law could do just that.
We need your help to close a loophole in the health care law that could punish low-income women and women with chronic diseases. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released proposed rules on the health care law’s wellness program that would increase premiums and out-of-pocket costs for individuals who do not or cannot participate in certain wellness activities, such as an exercise program. Help us make sure that employer-sponsored wellness programs don’t penalize women and their families.
Programs that increase premiums or out-of-pocket costs for individuals who do not participate in employer-run wellness programs could cause women who hold more than one job, who have childcare or eldercare responsibilities, or health conditions that restrict their ability to participate in program activities to pay more for health coverage or health care. And they ignore other economic and environmental barriers to improving health for low-income women and the fact that women who are pregnant or breast feeding might be medically-advised against participating in certain activities, such as a weight-loss program.
You have less than a week to make your voice heard! The IRS is only taking comments about its proposed rules on the health care law’s wellness program until July 2. That’s why we need you to make your voice heard today.
Going to the gym and eating healthy foods are good goals but easier for some than others. If your neighborhood grocery store doesn’t have fresh vegetables, you have children or elderly family to care for, or your community doesn’t have an affordable gym or sidewalks for you to walk and run on— it may be nearly impossible to be part of a program that requires you to participate to keep your health insurance premiums or out of pocket costs affordable.
Take action now.
Thank you for all you do for women and families.
Sincerely,