If health care bill passes, some changes would start fast

[SpartanDem]

Source: McClatchy

WASHINGTON — More money for community health centers. Immediate help for the uninsured. No more lifetime limits on coverage.

Under the health care legislation that's moving through Congress, these and other benefits would take effect quickly and should produce a noticeable impact on consumers, according to many independent analysts and Democrats.

"This would be a substantial package that could probably be quite helpful," said John Holahan, the director of the health policy center at Washington's Urban Institute, a research group.

Paul Ginsburg, the president of the Center for Studying Health System Change, called help for Medicare prescription-drug beneficiaries and people with pre-existing medical conditions "highly visible improvements for individuals already highly aware of the shortcomings of the existing system."


Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/81725.html

[ixion]

1. the other thing that would be fast would be

the dropping of the dems job approval rating, once people realize they've been suckered in to pay tribute to Insurance companies or suffer the IRS.

[grytpype]

8. :cry:

:cry::cry::cry::cry:

[LiberalFighter]

2. They need to do a Bible Code thing that shows language including Universal Single Payer.

[NJmaverick]

3. Yes, all good news

[damntexdem]

4. If the health center money survives as part of the bill.

Let's wait and see.

[juno jones]

21. If the health center money doesn't get sucked

into a faith based morass. Among other things.

The language being used to create these centers is far too vague for my liking. Community clinics need a lot of work to function on a par with private medicine.

[SPedigrees]

5. It can't come soon enough. nt

[nightrain]

6. this is a re-hash of a post yesterday--see link below

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7402084

[winyanstaz]

7. I cant believe the cheerleading for forced buying of insurance....

and propping up of a failed system.
You are all ready to bow your heads and take what has been shoved upon you.
Get out those pom poms...as once again the people are screwed by the corporations.
It is UNCONSTITUTIONAL to FORCE American taxpayers to buy from private companies. period.
If they can do this..they can now dictate every damned thing you buy and what business you are allowed to buy from.
All they got to do is pass another law...and the sheep will go bah bah bah and buy it.

[FarLeftFist]

11. It's simple...

Either get a job that offers health insurance (which this bill forces employers of even small businesses to do) or buy your own health insurance. Why should people that buy health insurance have to pay higher premiums b/c of those that aren't covered. Can't afford to pay? Receive a hardship exemption. Make under $30,000/year? Receive medicaid with no annual premiums. The fine? an average of about $300/year. I believe most people actually want health insurance, especially if your raising a family.

http://healthreform.kff.org/SubsidyCalculator.aspx

[Bluenorthwest]

12. I voted for a candidate who said you do not have to mandate

if the products are good and affordable, that trying to solve this crisis by mandating purchase of insurance was like trying to solve homelessness by passing a law that everybody has to buy a house. I voted against an otherwise excellent candidate because she supported mandates. And that is what it is.
What you are selling here lost the election. It was rejected.

[proudohioan]

14. Me too.

That was really my only gripe with Hilary, was that she supported insurance mandates. That was the the tie-breaker for me.

I am disappointed.

[FarLeftFist]

15. Not really b/c....

Buying a house has no effect on the homeless, going to the hospital uninsured does have an effect on people's premiums.

[Iowa]

16. I'm with you winyanstaz. This bill is a sell-out.

[TheEuclideanOne]

9. If they didn't give away EVERY SINGLE THING THAT OBAMA'S SUPPORTERS were hoping for

then you might get more people looking on the bright side for some of these small benefits. Unfortunately, we ended up with the worse case scenario so pardon me if I am not jumping for joy about the community health centers.

[DeeOwl]

10. "community health centers" ??????

What do they do that is different than any other hospital, small clinic, or what not? I don't have health insurance and I recently went to one of the local "community health centers" for some blood tests I need done. They gave me a quote of $360 out-of-pocket for two simple tests. This is too much for somebody with my income. They told me to try another one of the local "community health centers" if I didn't like their pricing, so I did. After making the trip in on foot in extreme weather (12-13 degrees outside) I was told, at this other place, to come back in six weeks since they were busy, even though there was pretty much nobody there patient-wise and it seemed half of the staff were just hanging around and chatting.

So, how are "community health centers" different than what an uninsured person like me would encounter in any other hospital/clinic?

(And yes, I did register just to ask this question.)

[mzmolly]

13. Your experience sounds

unusual, thankfully? The new health centers will be based upon a sliding fee scale.

[DeeOwl]

17. I tried the emergency room too...

At the first place I visited (which I mentioned above) they were pretty surprised that I was uninsured. The lady/nurse at the front desk acted like I was the first uninsured person to walk in there in months. At the other place they seemed to be used to seeing the uninsured but they didn't even bother of giving me a quote for the tests. They just told me to "come back" next month, when I asked exactly when, I was told "six weeks". This is pretty much the same treatment I got when I went to one of the large hospitals in my area few years ago for some similar tests.

Since I don't qualify for medicaid (no kids), no matter how low my income is, what I'm supposed to do? I tried the emergency room route, but they figured out that I wasn't an emergency case as far as they were concerned and sent me out. But not before they tried to get my name/address/social#, for some billing purposes no doubt, which I refused to give them after it was obvious I would receive no care.

So, what would in this bill help somebody like me? Would I be able to qualify for medicaid somehow, or would the out-of-pocket fees be lowered? I sure as heck can't afford any insurance, no matter how subsidized.

[mzmolly]

18. You may qualify for medicaid

under the new plan as well?

I'm very sorry about your experience. Check the calculator here and see what you would qualify for:

http://healthreform.kff.org/SubsidyCalculator.aspx

I'm interested to know your results.

Welcome to DU. :hi:

[DeeOwl]

19. Sounds too easy...

I checked out that page you linked. After punching in my info, most of the fields say "Medicaid" and some say "NA". When would this stuff kick-in? Months, years? Also, my income situation is a bit more complicated than just "Enter annual income here: " as per that page you linked. It sure was more complicated when I tried to get medicaid at the local SS office. I was told since I wasn't disabled as far as their criteria was concerned and since I had no kids, I was told to get lost. The person didn't use those words, but I got the idea.

It can't be that easy, can it?

[mzmolly]

20. The new bill greatly expands medicaid coverage by tripling current income limits.

I'm not sure when, but I believe that will kick in immediately? One can qualify without children and/or a disability.

[DeeOwl]

22. Hmm..

"One can qualify without children and/or a disability."

That sounds extremely, extremely, extremely, EXTREMELY nice, but I doubt it. I've been in the "system" in one way or the other since I was born, and that sounds too good to be true, as far the system I know is concerned.

[SpartanDem]

23. No it's true

in the Senate verison Medicaid in 2014 when the mandate take effect will be opened to people below 133% of poverty. The House has it at 2013 and 150%.

[mzmolly]

24. It's not just nice sounding, it's a fact that the bill

will expand medicaid coverage by increasing income limits. I hope you're one who is helped, personally when all is said and done. :)

[ChicagoSuz219]

25. I think most of them have sliding scale fees...

In the meantime, if all you need are blood tests, you might be able to go to a lab directly or try the Board of Health.

[DeeOwl]

26. Sliding scale fees? Hah!

ChicagoSuz219, (by the way, I'm a Chicagoan as well.) this talk of "sliding scale fees" is just to get you physically into the place of business. It is just a marketing tactic. (Heck, I thought it was the law or something until I was told otherwise.) Same applies to lawyers and others who advertise sliding scale fees and such. As soon as you mention that their "lower/scaled-down" fee is much higher then what is offered just down the road at normal rate, all of the sudden they don't want your business. (Speaking from experience here.)

As for my blood tests, I just found out something neither of the people in clinics I visited yesterday bothered to tell me: for the tests in question I need a prescription/order from my doctor, my dentists, or a similarly qualified person. At least that's what I was told on the phone earlier today by the person from a lab that does blood/urine analysis. Since I don't have my own doctor or a my own dentist I'm sort of screwed.

Anyways, I called a nearby hospital to set up an appointment with some random GP in order to get him to write the damn order (maybe I can get a physical out of it or something along the way, since I haven't had one since 2002) and now they have an appointment set for me, get this, for 22nd of this month. Two weeks away! Hah! In other words, two weeks from now I will see a doctor who "might" give me a prescription for a blood test I need by end of this week. (I need surgery and they refuse to do it until I get a blood test for some random stuff.) Plus, the person on the phone had no idea how much a GP visit would cost me.

If You Get Sick, Die Quickly!

indeed......

[winyanstaz]

27. I am saddened that you are having this trouble in your time of need...

It's a dang shame that it gets to this when a person is in need of medical care.
Good luck in getting some help soon.

[ChicagoSuz219]

28. If you're in Chicago...

...there's a place down the block from the United Center called Mile Square Health Center. Try them. I paid only $20 a visit, based on my income at the time. They were very nice. You may be able to get your tests done there, as well.

It's worth a shot! Call them. Good luck!