Health Reform Bill Signed Into Law; Several Provisions Will Assist Americans with Brain Tumors

April 7, 2010

President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law (Public Law 111-148) on March 23, 2010. This followed a long weekend of work by the House of Representatives that ended with approval of the health care bill by a vote of 219 to 212. This bill had been approved by the United States Senate on December 24, 2009.

One week later, on March 30, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, which included a number of health-related financing and revenue changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

With the President’s signature on these two pieces of legislation, the process begins to implement an insurance exchange system, fully operational by 2014, through which uninsured Americans may purchase health insurance. By 2014, there will also be a requirement imposed on employers to provide insurance and on individuals to purchase insurance. There will be some exceptions to these requirements, but the legislation will ultimately expand coverage to an additional 32 million Americans.

Although many provisions of the law will not be fully in place until 2014, several important parts of the law go into effect sooner. Among these are some that will benefit individuals with brain tumors. By the end of June 2010, a temporary national high-risk pool will provide coverage to adults with pre-existing conditions. This temporary program will phase out when the insurance exchange system is fully implemented, but in the meantime it will help individuals who are otherwise unable to obtain insurance coverage.

By the end of September of 2010, certain insurance regulations will be in place. Health plans will be barred from placing lifetime limits on coverage, blocked from rescinding coverage, except in cases of fraud, and prevented from excluding coverage for children who have pre-existing conditions. For some brain tumor patients, the protection against imposition of lifetime limits on coverage will be critical.

By the end of September, covered dependents must be allowed to stay on their parents’ health policies until the age of 26. This provision is meaningful for many young adult survivors of brain tumors, who find themselves uninsurable at the end of college or the termination at age 21 or 22 of their coverage through their parents’ plan.

For individuals with brain tumors who are enrolled in Medicare, there are a number of improvements to the program. Beginning in 2010, the Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage gap will be addressed. Over the next decade, the gap in coverage for prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries will be eliminated.

Useful materials about the health reform law, including a timeline for implementation, are available on the Kaiser Family Foundation website at www.kff.org. In addition, the website of the Speaker of the House of Representatives has much information about the new law at http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/legislation?id=0361.

In addition, the NABTC will continue to post updates about the health reform bill and its implementation on this website.

Posted in General News, Headlines, Health Care Reform