Under new Medicare provisions, retirees will get free annual check-ups, recommended preventive services, and new discounts on Rx drugs. Most people with Medicare will be able to receive free preventive services, including flu shots, cancer screenings and diabetes testing.
Seniors who reach the "donut hole" will receive a 50 percent discount when buying brand-name prescription drugs covered by Medicare Part D. Over the next ten years, seniors will receive additional savings on brand-name and generic drugs until the coverage gap is closed in 2020.
Doctors and other health care professionals who provide primary care to people with Medicare will get a 10 percent bonus to help ensure that primary care providers can continue provide services for Medicare patients.
Insurance companies will be required to spend 80 percent of premium dollars on health care and quality improvement, instead of administrative costs, big salaries, or marketing, or provide you with a rebate. If insurance companies do not meet these requirements because their administrative costs or profits are too high, they will be required to provide rebates to consumers.
Rate increases of 10 percent or higher will be reviewed to determine if the rate increase is unreasonable. Insurance companies’ justifications for unreasonable increases will be made public on the Healthcare.gov website as well as the insurance company website.
These rules went into effect Jan. 1st and come in addition to rules that prohibit denial of coverage to children due to preexisting conditions, arbitrary canceling of insurance policies, and eliminate lifetime limits on benefits. In addition, new insurance plans are required to provide cost-free preventive services (like screenings, vaccinations, and counseling). Parents are now able to keep their children on their plans until their 26.
A plan to provide coverage to consumers who have already been denied coverage due to preexisting conditions has been created.
And the biggest kept secret, according to a recent survey of small businesses, is a new tax credit for small employers to help cover the cost of health insurance for their employees. Small firms, who prior to the law have seen insurance companies charge an average of 18 percent more for coverage, will now get a 35% tax credit, which will jump to 50 percent in 2014.
The survey found that about one-third of small businesses who do not now provide health benefits are more likely to offer coverage as a result of the health reform law.
The Congressional Budget Office found that a proposed Republican Party repeal of the law would add $230 billion to the deficit in the next ten years and an additional $1.2 trillion in the next 10 years, and it would exclude more than 30 million people from health care coverage.
