Health Care Bill - Part One

Okay, I have decided to take on the task of reading this health care bill- all 2700 pages. I am first going to read through the bill and see if I can figure out all the cross-referencing later on.

Each day, I am planning on sharing a little bit of interesting stuff that I learn from my reading. I am not a lawyer so, I am not fairly versed in legalese but, I'm willing to give it a shot. I will only be highlighting/covering the parts that I think will be helpful for you or, interesting. I'm sure the bill is filled a bunch of repeating and legal stuff that might not be of terrible interest to you.

So far, from what I have read...

The first section talks about limits and it looks like they do not want any yearly limits. There's a bunch of stuff you have to cross reference so, I will have to study that some more, in order to figure out what other limits they are referring to.

For, ‘‘SEC. 2714. EXTENSION OF DEPENDENT COVERAGE...this is saying that insurance companies are now required to cover dependents until the age of 26. They cannot be married.

Through most of this, it keeps saying, "The Secretary..." The Secretary shall decide what is considered to be acceptable. I thought the purpose of the bill was to figure this all out. I don't understand why The Secretary is the one who is able to make these calls, or deems what is appropriate.

For example:

SEC. 2715. DEVELOPMENT AND UTILIZATION OF UNIFORM EXPLANATION OF COVERAGE DOCUMENTS AND STANDARDIZED DEFINITIONS.

Under this, it says: In developing such standards, the Secretary shall consult with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (referred to in this section as the ‘NAIC’)

What they are going to do is have a panel of folks that consist of doctors, insurance people, and other "qualified individuals" (whatever the hell that means), are going to develop standards for group or individual health insurance coverage.

So, again, we have a bill that congress voted on and, they have NO idea what is actually coming. Is this why Nancy Pelosi said, "We have to pass the bill in order to see what is in it"? They didn't know what was in it! They really didn't.

The Secretary also has the authority to periodically go over and update. So, basically, they can just change this bill at will. Lovely.

PERIODIC REVIEW AND UPDATING.—The Secretary shall periodically review and update, as appropriate,the standards developed under this section.

On page 28, it says that insurers will have to provide a report to the Secretary, outlining their progress on quality care. This would include health outcomes, preventing hospital readmissions, improving safety and errors, and wellness and health activities. Okay...sounds okay, I guess.

Apparently, the insurers will be required to offer and promote wellness and health activities. They can do this a variety of ways, either face-to-face, or even through the web. In any case, they are required to provide information on, (1) Smoking cessation. (2) Weight management.(3) Stress management.(4)Physical fitness (5)Nutrition.(6)Heart disease prevention.(7)Healthy lifestyle support (8)Diabetes prevention. (page 29)

Hmmm...will our president quit smoking?

Okay, page 30 SEC. 2718. BRINGING DOWN THE COST OF HEALTH CARE COVERAGE.

I'm having a harder time understanding this section but, I am reading this as the insurer is going to have to report the premium costs and, account for all expenses. This will be reported to the Secretary, who in turn, will determine if the consumer should receive an annual rebate. (REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE VALUE FOR PREMIUM PAYMENTS.)

The next section talks about STANDARD HOSPITAL CHARGES. Now, the Secretary is going to determine what the hospitals can charge. Each service is going to have a set price, each year. How lovely.

Beginning of page 41, we find the Immediate Actions to Preserve and Expand Coverage SEC. 1101.IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO INSURANCE FOR UNINSURED INDIVIDUALS WITH A PREEXISTING CONDITION. Now, it does say in here that you have to be a citizen to be eligible. It also says that the coverage is deemed by the Secretary either directly or, through a contract.

I am reading this as a private insurer may receive government funds, in order to cover the person with preexisting conditions.

The next section of this discusses prevention of people who are currently covered and then find themselves getting dumped. The idea is to prevent this from happening. Of course, the Secretary can determine how much and how many will be covered.

This is truly astounding. The Secretary can basically do anything they want. Who is this Secretary and who is overseeing their work?

More to come...