Re: FBI: Man threatened to kill Sen. Patty Murray over health care ...

http://www.healthreform.gov/

http://healthcarefactcheck.com/

Action Center

1. Get the facts and share them with your friends
http://www.dccc.org/page/invite/factcheck

2. Sign our Thank You card for Speaker Pelosi here
http://www.dccc.org/page/s/sptycard

3. Become a fan of Democrats on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
http://www.facebook.com/electdemocrats?v=app_11007063052&ref=ts
http://twitter.com/dccc


Health Care Reform: Get the Facts

=

MYTH: House health insurance reform legislation will lead to
out-of-control deficit spending

FACT: The Affordable Health Care for America act contains several
cost-control measures, including rewarding quality instead of quantity
of care, payment bundling, reducing hospital readmissions, negotiating
drug prices, investing in prevention, cracking down on fraud, creating a
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and promoting accountable
care organizations.
Health care reform will also cut the deficit by more than $100 billion
in the first ten years and $1 trillion in the second ten years. This
constitutes the biggest deficit reduction package in more than a decade.

=

MYTH: End-of-life provisions in House health insurance reform bill will
lead to "Death Panels"

FACT: The bill never requires anyone to discuss end-of-life care.
Nonpartisan Politifact.com calls the suggestion that the bill would
encourage anyone to end their lives sooner an "outright distortion."

=

MYTH: Health insurance reform plan will lead to cuts in Medicare
benefits and services

FACT: Nothing in the bill would cut basic Medicare benefits.
Instead, the bill strengthens Medicare by reducing inefficiency and
rooting out and eliminating waste and fraud. In it's October newsletter,
the AARP said of the House bill "the changes actually aim to strengthen
Medicare and improve beneficiaries' care and access to physicians."

=

MYTH: Private Plans Outlawed
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) claimed on his website that individual
private health insurance plans will be outlawed in 2013 under the
Democratic health care plan.

PolitiFact.com: Private health insurance not banned In fact, PolitiFact
rates this myth so miseleading that it calls it "Pants on Fire."
Individual policies will continue to be available, but people will buy
those policies through the national health insurance exchange, which
will ensure that people with pre-existing conditions will be able to get
coverage.
The House bill also allows for existing policies to be grandfathered in,
so individual purchasers who like their coverage will be able to keep
it.



America's Affordable Health Choices Act

On Sunday, March 21st 2010, the House achieved a historic victory for
American families by passing the comprehensive health insurance reform.

Throughout the legislative process, House Democrats fought tirelessly to
bring real change to America by fixing our broken health care system.
Below are some critical reforms enacted by this landmark legislation:


Affordability

* Reduces cost by creating competitive health insurance exchanges where
consumers can small businesses can buy affordable coverage much like
large companies do today

* Creates tax credits and subsidies to help low and middle income
Americans afford quality care

* Closes the Medicare prescription "donut hole" by providing an initial
$250 rebate and then deep discounts on prescription drugs for Medicare
beneficiaries in the donut hole

* Extends the solvency of the Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund by
at least nine years


Access

* Ends insurance company practice of discriminating and denying coverage
based on pre-existing conditions, health status or gender

* Increases access to care by investing in Community Health Centers

* Expands eligibility for Medicaid

* Eliminates copays for preventative Medicare benefits such as cancer
screenings and provides free yearly exams for Medicare beneficiaries


Accountability

* Gives Americans they tools and information they need to make informed
decisions about their health insurance coverage

* Reins in unwarranted, egregious premium increases by empowering the
Department of Health and Human Services and state insurance
commissioners to conduct thorough annual reviews

* Creates incentives for health care providers reimbursed by Medicare to
base decisions on quality rather than quantity of care and to move away
from a fee-for-service system.

* Promotes transparency by cracking down on waste and fraud in Medicare,
Medicaid, SCHIP and private insurers


Financial Responsibility

* Cuts the deficit by more than $100 billion in the first ten years,
then one trillion in the second ten years

* Constitutes the biggest deficit reduction package in more than a
decade

* Restores fiscal responsibility by reining in health care costs across
our economy


While some provision of the bill will be phased in over time, the
following provisions will take effect as soon as President Obama signs
the bill:

* Tax credits for small businesses

* Preventive care covered 100 percent by Medicare

* Closing the Medicare prescription drug "donut hole"

* Temporary coverage for early retirees, ages 55-64

* Insurance companies can no longer drop people from coverage when they
get sick

* Ends discrimination against children based on heath status or
pre-existing conditions

* Ends restrictive annual limits on benefits for new insurance policies

* Allows adult children to be covered under their parents' plan up to
the age of 26

* Ensures that insurers spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical
care

* Eliminates copays for preventive care under new private plans

* Provides temporary coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions
until Exchange is implemented

* Expands enough funding for community health centers to double capacity
in five years

.

Relevant Pages