Track Healthcare Reform Bill

As the Senate debates the bill to reform healthcare (H.R. 3590 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), you can track the debate and read the new amendments as they are proposed, to be informed about the facts of the bill.

Currently, only Americans who are age 65 or older are guaranteed health insurance, through Medicare, the government health insurance program for seniors.

If you are an American under age 65, your options for health insurance are: 

• Receive health insurance as part of your employee benefits at companies who offer group health insurance
• Receive health insurance as an employee of the government or member of the Military
• Privately pay for your own health insurance as an individual
• Receive health insurance through the government program, Medicaid, if you have certain disabilities 
• Receive emergency health care at county hospitals and emergency rooms

The average cost of an individual health insurance policy for a healthy 40-year-old with no pre-existing conditions is $250 per month with a $5,000 deductible.

As most group health plans are geared for large corporations with thousands of participants, which helps lower the cost of premiums, many small companies are not able to afford to provide health insurance benefits to their employees.  At the same time, because individual health insurance is much more costly than group health insurance plans, individuals who are self-employed or unemployed often cannot afford health insurance.  Individual health insurance programs can also choose to drop insurance coverage for the individual if certain health events occur. 

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act was passed by Congress in 1986, and requires hospitals and ambulance services to provide care to anyone needing medical treatment, regardless of citizenship or the ability to pay.  More than half of all emergency room care goes uncompensated.  This current system has caused an inflation in health care costs for those insured Americans who do pay for care and leaves many Americans without access to health insurance.

The goal of the health insurance reform is to offer affordable access to health care for all Americans.

Learn about the costs of health insurance, the current benefits Medicare insurance offers and track the current health care reform bill to know how your health insurance will be impacted.