Background and Fact Sheet on the President’s Event today on the Affordable Care Act and The New Patients’ Bill of Rights
READ THE FACT SHEET (PDF)
90-DAY ANNIVERSARY OF THE SIGNING OF THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT AND THE NEW PATIENTS’ BILL OF RIGHTS
One day after the 90-day anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act, the President will deliver remarks in the East Room regarding the ongoing effort to implement the new law and announce the release of new regulations implementing the patients’ bill of rights protections included in the Affordable Care Act. The remarks will take place immediately after a meeting with Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary Hilda Solis, state insurance commissioners, and insurance company CEOs in the Roosevelt Room. A fact sheet of the Affordable Care Act and the New Patients’ Bill of Rights is attached.
The audience (approx. 160) will include Americans who are already benefiting from the new law (bios below), as well members of Congress, consumer and disease groups, labor and the business and insurer communities (including insurance company CEOs and state insurance commissioners).
The President will be introduced by Amy Wilhite from Marblehead, Ohio (bio below).
Pat Engelhardt (Hockessin, Delaware)
Last year, Pat hit the gap in Medicare Part D coverage known as the donut hole and expects to reach that gap again in the next few months. Her drug costs skyrocketed when her blood thinner medication jumped from $204 to $1,480, and her cholesterol medication went from $16 to $224. Once Pat reaches the donut hole, she will receive a check for $250 to help cover some of her drug costs for this year.
Katie Gibson (Bozeman, Montana)
In 1995, Katie was told that she had less than a year to live. Katie had group coverage through an employer when she and her husband decided to leave the corporation and move to Montana. Her insurance would not transfer with her if she left the corporation to start her own company. Due to pre-existing conditions, she struggled to find new insurance but did eventually find it through a professional society. Years after they had their new insurance, they were informed that the minimum deductible was being increased from $5,000 to $25,000/year. Katie and her husband had no say in the matter, and they could not afford to pay $25,000 a year out of pocket, so they had to search for new insurance. This was not easy for Katie as a cancer survivor, and one insurance company after another refused to cover her because they said she had a pre-existing condition. Eventually Katie found a company and was accepted into a new program. Just in case, Katie kept her old coverage for a month after the new coverage started – just to be certain the new company would cover her. Everything seemed fine, but several months later the new insurance company called to say they had changed their minds, and that Katie’s insurance had been rescinded retroactive to the beginning of the policy. So now not only did Katie not have insurance, her record indicated a long lapse in coverage
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Not being mean but the first case, they have went over a million dollars in cost but only have to pay $10,000 out of pockets means insurance is picking up 99 percent of the bill. That’s darn good health insurance. Very good insurance.
The problem with this is that staggering cost of it. What they need to be targeting is how to cut medical cost in the first place.
Eventually, health care inflation is going to bankrupt the country and businesses.