Summary and Analysis of new Republican Health Care Bill

[WHAT HAPPENED]

On November 3rd, the GOP made it’s new health care reform bill available for review. The bill contains many elements of H.R.3400 which was the Republican-sponsored health care bill submitted in the House in July. This new bill is being submitted as a substitute for Pelosi-care or H.R.3962.

The legislation is considerably smaller than the liberal bill it is intended to replace. The Democrat bill is just under 2,000 pages while this new GOP proposal weighs in at a paultry 230 pages. Good for me, as I wasn’t sure I could do another 2,000 page snooze-fest.

A quick summary of the bill is that it does seem to preserve state and individual rights, keep government out of health care and meets Americans desires to have health care be made more affordable and accessible. The bill makes provisions for:

* Lowering premiums
o Restricts malpractice lawsuits to prevent ridiculous rewards
o Limits the percentage of awards that can go to lawyers
o Provides incentives to states to hit premium reduction targets
o Provides for the purchase of health insurance from across state lines
o Allows small businesses and groups to form “associations” in order to get the savings that only large companies or organizations usually can
o Gives flexibility to provide rewards to those who adopt healthier lifestyles
o Enhances HSAs (health care savings accounts) to allow that tax-free money to be used for premium payments
* Increased access
o Establishes high-risk pools to guarantee access to health care fro those with pre-existing conditions
o Prevents insurers from canceling a policy except in the case of fraud
o Eliminates lifetime spending caps
o Allows young adults to stay on their parents health plans until age 25

There are no federal tax provisions in the bill, but there are at least $50 Billion in new costs for the incentive funds to the states. The bill simply states that the money comes from “the Treasury” so one would assume this is to be paid out of existing funds. The CBO will have to analyze if the bill saves $50 Billion or more during the same time period making the bill both cost and deficit neutral.

Analysis of Republican Health Care Reform Bill - Conservative Daily News <-- FULL STORY

Health Care Reform Update - Conservative Daily News <-- SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON

[Phil502]

Well I like it a lot better then Pelosi/Oblama take over bill. Looks like there is only 3 things they share. Portability (crossing state lines), lifetime limited coverage eliminated (I would be interested to know how often this happens) and some pre existing condition help.

I worry about and feel sorry for the guy that say has a job for 10 years or so, in that time his wife gets breast cancer, he loses his job, then he gets a new one or tries to buy insurance and gets hit real hard because of a pre-existing condition. It's not fair, he paid in like all of us and then he gets in a real bad way when he loses his job.

[EvilElmo]

Originally Posted by Phil502

...lifetime limited coverage eliminated (I would be interested to know how often this happens)...

Purely anecdotal information but my employer offers 5 insurance plans:
2 PPOs
2 HSA PPOs
1 HMO

The two PPOs have a $1 million lifetime cap. The HSA PPOs are unlimited. I'm not sure about the HMO.

[WHAT HAPPENED]

bumping cuz i think it is important

[Denny347]

Originally Posted by Phil502

I worry about and feel sorry for the guy that say has a job for 10 years or so, in that time his wife gets breast cancer, he loses his job, then he gets a new one or tries to buy insurance and gets hit real hard because of a pre-existing condition. It's not fair, he paid in like all of us and then he gets in a real bad way when he loses his job.

In this economy it probably happens more often than we think...or something similar. Sadly, there little that can be done. Neither side is willing do anything about it and we only hope that we do not fall into that same trap.

[Phil502]

Originally Posted by EvilElmo

Purely anecdotal information but my employer offers 5 insurance plans:
2 PPOs
2 HSA PPOs
1 HMO

The two PPOs have a $1 million lifetime cap. The HSA PPOs are unlimited. I'm not sure about the HMO.

Thanks.