I also don't really know what it means, so I looked it up on one of the forums I frequent (and moderate), and luckily someone had a topic on it... as of November 2009, these were the basics.
Summary: The summary of the bill includes the following elements, among others:
1. Establishes a mandate to purchase private insurance for most individuals with an income above poverty level.
2. Creates a mechanism to enforce the mandate in a sliding scale tax on those who do not purchase health insurance for most legal United States residents with an income above poverty level.
3. Prohibits pre-existing condition exclusions.
4. Requires adjusted community rating, guaranteed issue, and guaranteed renewal of individual and small group health insurance that: limits age rating variation of premiums to 2:1 (200 percent), prohibits gender and health status rating variation of premiums, allows variation of premiums by geographic area and family (vs. individual) enrollment.
5. Prohibits cancellation of coverage except for evidence of fraud.
6. Limits annual out-of-pocket expenses to $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a family.
7. Requires Health and Human Services to create a non-subsidized public health insurance plan with pricing based on private industry averages. Three optional levels of coverage are to be offered by the plan which must set premiums at a level sufficient to fully finance the costs of the health benefits the administrative costs related to operating the plan.
8. Establishes a Health Insurance Exchange (HIE) within a proposed Health Choices Administration, to provide a market place for insurers to sell qualifying plans on a public web site.
9. Requires the creation of a risk equalization pool that will allow qualifying plans to minimize the impact of adverse selection of enrollees among the plans.[9]
10. Provides a tax credit for low-income individuals and families to help pay insurance premiums.
11. Requires employers with payroll costs over $500,000 to provide health insurance that meets the minimum standard of coverage allowed in the HIE.
12. Provides for a tax on employers that do not provide the required health insurance.
13. Provides for a tax on couples with adjusted joint gross income exceeding $350,000 (80% of this figure for single people)
14. Reduces Medicare payments to hospitals with excessive re-admissions.
15. Further expands Medicaid eligibility and scope of covered preventive services, for lower-income individuals and families.
16. Increases Medicaid payments to physicians for primary care.
17. Provides for a phased-in elimination of the Medicare Part D coverage gap and requires drug manufactures to discount and/or rebate additional qualifying drugs originally excluded from the plan.
18. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop quality measures for the delivery of health care services in the United States.
19. Establishes the Health Benefits Advisory Committee chaired by the Surgeon General of the United States.
20. Prioritizes any eventual implementation of best practices in the delivery of health care.
21. Establishes a National Prevention and Wellness Strategy along with appropriations for its trust fund.
22. Outlines Administrative standards that reduces costs and improves service, including the ability for Administrators to determine an accurate total financial estimate at the point of service as well as enabling real time electronic transfer of funds to take place if possible (mirrors currently existing laws)
Ways of funding is currently being debated.
It may be too much to ask, but...can I get married now?
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