Hoboken - Late on Saturday, health insurance reform cleared a major hurdle in the U.S. Senate, as the Senate voted to begin the amendment process on the bill. U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), a member of the crucial Finance Committee, voted in favor of beginning the debate. Today he spoke at Hoboken University Medical Center about the prospects for the legislation and about the benefits of the bill that will become available to families shortly after reform is enacted into law.Included in the benefits of the bill that would available quickly are a new program to ensure that those with pre-existing conditions will have coverage; an elimination of half of the prescription drug cost "donut hole" for seniors, which could benefit 227,000 New Jersey seniors; a prohibition of annual and life time limits on insurance coverage; a prohibition of insurance companies from dropping existing coverage because of legitimate claims; free preventive and wellness benefits, such as colonoscopies for seniors; and allowing young adults to stay on family insurance plans until the age of 26.
"Saturday's vote was a major milestone as we try to deliver the protections that health insurance reform will bring, but it won't be the last," said Senator Menendez. "There will be more ups and downs, highs and lows - sometimes on a daily basis - throughout the rest of this process, as there have been up to this point. But the bottom line is that sometime early next year, we will stand with President Obama as he signs a landmark health insurance reform bill into law, and in doing so, we'll be standing with families all across this state and country who no longer will have a constant, day-to-day worry about a tug-of-war with their insurance company.
"People in this state and across the country have heard plenty of fabrication and fear about what health insurance reform would mean. But I want them to know the facts. I want them to know that there in much this bill that would be available within months and would bring them health insurance security and relief from skyrocketing costs. Coverage for pre-existing conditions, protection against insurance companies dropping your coverage, an elimination of insurance coverage limits, prescription drug coverage for seniors - these and other crucial reforms will go into effect quickly, and families can stay healthier and more prosperous because of them."
NEW JERSEY IMPACT OF HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM'S IMMEDIATE BENEFITS:
Proposals implemented in 2010 and 2011 will produce real benefits for:
· Families: The 8.7 million residents of New Jersey will benefit as reform:
· Seniors: New Jersey's 1.3 million Medicare beneficiaries4 will benefit as reform:
· Small businesses: While small businesses make up 80 percent of New Jersey's businesses, only 60 percent of them offered health coverage benefits in 2008.9 107,000 small businesses in New Jersey could be helped by a small businesses tax credit proposal that makes premiums more affordable.10 And these small businesses would be exempt from any employer responsibility provisions.
· States: State budgets will be relieved from rising health care costs as reform:
2Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007.
3 Kaiser Family Foundation. 2009 Employer Health Benefits Survey.
4Kaiser State Health Facts. http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=353&cat=7.
5 Kaiser State Health Facts. http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=353&cat=7.
6 Rick Foster, Office of the Actuary, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Letter to Congressman Stark, June 25, 2009.
7 Office of the Actuary. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
8 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
9 Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - Insurance Component, 2008, Table II.A.2.
10 Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - Insurance Component, 2008.
11 Hospital uncompensated care cost is estimated using a GAO model and the Hospital Cost Reports. Total uncompensated care is computed as hospital uncompensated care divided by 63% (Hadley and Holahan's study on "The Cost of Care for the Uninsured" for Kaiser in 2004 found that hospitals account for 63% of total uncompensated care). Data expressed in 2009 dollars using Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, "National Health Expenditure Data."
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March 12, 2024