Thursday's Healthcare Quiz

Today's topic features questions about the health reform. How many will you get right this week?

Let's sum it up.

For over a month now this blog has talked about our healthcare in this country. Not everyone is going to be on our side and we get that. Our goal was to educate the people who were on the border or didn't know exactly what is really going on. Whether it was positive or negative, helpful or useless, interesting or snooze worthy, we covered it. So I want to take the time to sum a few things up if you are a new reader or if you want healthcare wrapped up in a nutshell. Allow me to start with some the basics.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obama care, puts in place strong consumer protections, provides new coverage options and gives you the tools you need to make informed choices about your health. This act was established by president Barack Obama. His goal is to get insurance for those who are unable to get it on their own and help the people who already have it by not allowing insurance companies to charge you more if your already sick. I like many young Americans benefited from Obama care. I am 23 years old, and because of Obama care I am still able to be on my parents insurance and receive amazing coverage without having to go broke.

For the millions of Americans who benefit from Obama care we were on the edge of our seats awaiting the results of the 2012 elections to confirm that this act was going to continue helping us. Governor Mitt Romney was trying to change things for us. With the help of Paul Ryan, they developed Ryan's Plan, which would cause many seniors to have to pay more for the same insurance they are paying less for now. As we of course know Barack Obama did win the 2012 elections, so we should expect to get the help we need at least for the next 4 years.

I want to take the time to say that I support Barack Obama because I can only imagine how hard things can get being the boss of the country. He wants to help the little guys, like me. If I didn't clear up The Affordable Care Act as much as you would have liked watch this short video from President Barack Obama himself and consider all the good that will come.

Medicare from the Doctor.

In a recent article called, "Tough Hard Decision: What to do about Medicare", Dr. Ron Lambert talks about a different view concerning Medicare. By now we know what Medicare is, who uses it, and how to get it, but we never hear from the other side, the Doctors. In his article Dr. Lambert discusses the pros and cons of owing a medical practice and accepting Medicare as one of the providers. Lambert has been using the electronic medical records system in which a computerized medical record is created in an organization that delivers care, such as a hospital or physician's office. Electronic medical records tend to be a part of a local stand-alone health information system that allows storage, retrieval and modification of records. He is now considering "opting-out" from this approach and wants to start charging his patients on a month to month subscription for his services.

Why the change? Well its plain and simple, he wants more money. By having his patients pay a monthly subscription he can charge what he wants for certain procedures and not what Medicare tells him he is going to receive. Although, he does know his possible downfalls if he strays away from Medicare. One of the downfalls is that when you opt-out, Medicare doesn't let you back in for two years. So, if his plan fails he won't be able to run back to gain his patients back. He does also know his benefits of going a different route. One the benefits is direct billing. Instead of having to bill the patient, then bill the insurance and wait for their approval the send back, he is getting paid directly by the patient.

We never look at the trouble Doctor offices have to go through to make some money. Should Dr. Ron Lambert stray away from the system and do things different? Or will his venture in the the unknown world of charging patients directly prevail? He is still contemplating his decision but speaks about his life concerning Medicare is the video.

The New Health Care Rules

A recent blog written by Julie Rovner on NPR's website explains to us how with the election past us, President Obama and his administration are laying down the rules for what will be our new health care plan.  After years of disputing what will, and what will not be part of Americans health care, there are finally some ground rules that have been established.  We now know that not all, but a big chunk of President Obamas plan will be effective.  States and insurance companies have been waiting for a long time in trying to figure out what to do.  Most of the states were waiting for a final result in the presidential election to decide what to do, while others already had a plan had either Obama, or Romney won.  Now that everyone knows who will be running the country for the next four years, both states and insurance are hurrying to get the official rules that way they can move forward with their states health exchange plan.

So what do we know that is official from health care reform?  Julie Rovner, explains in detail some of the most important changes we can expect.  One of the biggest changes is that companies have to comply with the anti discriminatory changes that will be in effect in 2014.  Health insurance will be available to everyone regardless of their health status, or pre existing conditions.  People with pre existing conditions will not pay higher premiums, and also the most important part of this new changes is that people can not be cancelled from their health insurance due to illness.

129 million people with pre existing conditions can now feel at ease because it is officially illegal for insurance companies to discriminate.  Now of course there is still time for adjustments and change, but that time is coming to a close. People can complain or ask for adjustments, but end date for any changes will come Dec. 26th.

Another stipulation rules that both states and insurance companies will have to lay out the benefits that it will offer, Individuals, and small businesses will have to choose from packaged plans that will benefit the individual.  The rule also states that each individual will have a plan that is at minimum equal to the typical insurance plan offered by a small business.  This however, can of course vary depending on the agreement between the state and the insurance companies that have been previously agreed upon.

Another interesting fact is that each individual will have a series of plans to choose from that is broken down in the simplest of ways, it will be broken down into how much each plan will cover in medical bills.  For example, bronze will cover 60 percent, silver will cover 70 percent, gold will cover 80 precent, and platinum will pay 90 percent.

This for many Americans will be great.  Not only has the complexity of choosing a health care plan been erased, but we as Americans can feel protected now, knowing that we will no longer be taken advantage of.

For more information on the new health care plan take a look at this video

State Health Exchange Plans Extended

As we discussed in last weeks blog, all states were having to report what their plan was for the new federal healthcare plan.  According to a recent blog posted on the Beyond Health Care Reform website, it has been extended.  Not all of the states are ready to submit their decision, Some have submit their plans early, while others are still undecided.  Originally, all states were to have a plan in place by November 16th, 2012, but this has been moved up to January 1st, 2014.  Revised FAQ's on the exchange blueprint issued by the HHS pushed the federal government for an extension.

This Blog has proven to be a very helpful source because it provides a link for individuals to take a look at the current status of their states exchange process.  It allows the individual to see if their state is going to have their own plan in place, or if the state is going to have a partnership exchange, or also if the state is going to default to the federal exchange.

I recently looked up a youtube video on health care reform.  This video is awesome, it explains healthcare reform in basic terms which has helped me understand the process of our new health care plan, and also how it will work and whom it will help.  Hopefully this link to the video will help you as it has helped me.

The Health Care Quiz

It has come to my attention that many people dont know what health care is right for them. What does it cover and who does it cover? Is it free? Who can receive it? Although, all these answers are as easy as reading the the paper work that go hand in hand with them, we aren't reading them.

This is a new weekly feature that is going to give you pop quiz questions and answers on your everyday health care plans. I'll be posting questions, each with its own set of mulitple choice answers and lets see how well you know insurance.

Are We Really Ready For Change?

A great article written on the Health Care Blog by Dr.Lawrence Rosen talks about if Americans are really ready for change. He talks about how the first presidential election held so much hope for Americans, and how record voting numbers were hit in hope for change. One of the things that Americans were hopeful for was change in the health care plan that we had four years ago. Now that we have a new health care system in place in Obamacare, are we really prepared for the future that it holds? Dr. Lawrence Rosen brings up some very interesting facts about American citizens and the changes we have experienced in our health over a few decades. Obesity had increased over 130 percent in a matter of 20 years, Diabetes has more than doubled since 1996, Asthma grew from 2001 to 2009 by 4.3 million, and the prevalence of autism grew by an astonishing 289.5 percent. Why is this important? It is because of the insane amount of money that is being thrown out in health care for these health care problems and more. For example obesity medical cost amounted to more than $147 billion dollars in 2008, Diabetes estimated cost in 2007 was $174 billion, Asthma in 2007 cost Americans $56 billion dollars, and Autism and ADHD is estimated to be at $137 billion dollars per year. Most people have no idea the amount of money that is being spent in health care. If you asked someone today they would probably figure it is a lot, but seeing these numbers will certainly make your stomach turn.


So are we really ready for the new health plan President Obama has in place for us?  Dr. Lawrence points out that the big players in the health industry would rather have Americans sick. Why? Dr. Lawrence says that it’s the money. Of course big hospital chains, insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and medical associations want this, because that is the source of where there money comes from. They thrive off of the sick, and instead of offering a solution for prevention, they offer a pill.

 Change is happening, and that’s great. However what America needs now is not just the medical attention we deserve, but the preventative care. President Obama and his office have worked extremely hard at providing Americans with a change in the health care system that will benefit us for years to come, but what we need to ask for is not just the health care when we are sick, but the methods that prevent us from ever having to worry about getting sick. We need a change in our personal health, that way not only we can prevent obesity, and diabetes, but our children too. We can’t always rely on the government for everything we do, but educating the population instead of just offering us pills until the next refill will make us the healthy nation we need to be.