The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Obviously, many of your senior citizen clients will have inquiries regarding this historic event that will bring much change to their health care. Here is a list of provisions that will significantly impact them:
The Medicare “doughnut hole” will be closed – the approximately 4 million Medicare beneficiaries who hit the so-called “doughnut hole” in the program’s drug plan will get a $250 rebate this year.
Co-pays eliminated for pre-screens – one way to lower the cost of health care is to treat symptoms and health problems earlier, so the new law eliminates co-pays for preventative screenings.
Extending the life of the Medicare Trust Fund – Health insurance reform will extend the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by an additional four to five years – and delivery system reforms included in health insurance reform have the potential to keep the Trust Fund solvent even longer into the future.
The Physician Payments Sunshine Act – requires disclosure of payments and gifts provided to doctors from pharmaceutical, biologic, and medical device companies. This law aims to reduce medical costs for consumers by preventing conflicts of interest created by such financial incentives.
Medicare Payment Improvement Act of 2009 – this new law states that states that have higher quality-to-cost ratios will receive more money from the Medicare program. Before the new law, payments were made based on the quantity of services provided, not the quality. This is expected to increase the quality of senior health care.
The Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act – this law aims to motivate nursing homes to provide the best care possible by giving consumers more access to data and records. Nursing homes will essentially have public records and any major problems could lead to a serious loss of business.
The Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act – many senior health care issues stem from employees having violent or criminal histories that were never discovered by their employers. This new law will set up a system of nationwide background checks on candidates applying for senior health care positions.
Retooling the Healthcare Workforce for an Aging America Act of 2009 – expands, trains, and supports all sectors of the health care workforce to care for the growing population of older individuals in the United States.
The Home and Community Balanced Incentives Act – this law aims to expand home and community-based services (HCBS) by giving more money to states. The states will then be required to use the money to improve Medicaid programs to allow for this to happen.
According to Joe Baker, the president of the Medicare Rights Center, the PP&AC Act will be especially beneficial to those on Medicare. “People with Medicare will save hundreds of dollars each year as the coverage gap in the Medicare drug benefit is phased out. They will have better access to preventive services and primary care. Hospitals and doctors will have new incentives to provide high-quality, coordinated care that will help people with Medicare manage chronic conditions. Medicare’s finances will be stronger and the budget deficit will be reduced.”
To view the highlights of the changes that the PP&AC Act introduces see this document (note: Medicare specific information starts on page 23): http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/housesenatebill_final.pdf
More information regarding health insurance reform and Medicare can be found here: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/medicare/index.html
Want to get all the latest news and information on Medicare from the nation’s leading Medicare Supplement FMO? Then visit our site to learn more about Medicare supplement plan n and other 2010 modernized plans.
Leave a comment