Timeline for health care provisions to take effect & what it means for you
Now that the health care reform bill has passed the House of Representatives, what can we expect in the coming weeks?
First the Senate must pass the reconciliation health care bill that the House passed on Sunday. (They can’t make any changes, if so it will have to go back to the house.) Once the Senate passes the modified health care reform bill, it will be sent to President Obama’s desk. He’ll sign it immediately, of course. But then what will happen?
If the health care reform bill does become law, both the Democrats and the Republicans will face lengthy legal battles. The state attorney generals in Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, and others have pledged to file federal lawsuits after the health care reform bill is signed.
Here are the effective ?dates of major provisions of the health care overhaul legislation:
WITHIN A YEAR WHEN THE BILL IS PASSED THE SENATE AND IS LAW:
Provides a $250 rebate to Medicare prescription drug beneficiaries whose initial benefits run out.
90 DAYS AFTER ENACTMENT:
Provides immediate ?access to high-risk pools for people with no insurance because of pre-existing ?conditions.
SIX MONTHS AFTER ?ENACTMENT:
Bars insurers from denying people coverage when they get sick.
Bars insurers from ?denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions.
Bars insurers from ?imposing lifetime caps on coverage.
Requires insurers to ?allow people to stay on their parents’ policies until they turn 26.
IN 2011:
Requires individual and small group market plans to spend 80 percent of premium dollars on medical services. Large group plans have to spend at least 85 percent.
IN 2013:
Increases the Medicare payroll tax and expands it to dividend, interest and other unearned income for singles earning more than $200,000 and joint filers making more than $250,000.
IN 2014:
Provides subsidies for families earning up to 400 percent of the poverty level, currently about $88,000 a year, to purchase health insurance.
Requires most employers to provide coverage or face penalties.
Requires most people to obtain coverage or face penalties.
IN 2018:
Imposes a 40 percent ?excise tax on high-end ?insurance policies.
IN 2019:
Expands health insurance coverage to 32 million people.
SOURCES: Speaker of the House, Congressional Budget Office, Kaiser Family Foundation.
Tags: Health care, Health care bill, Health care provisions, Health Care reform, Health care Time line, Health care what it means for me, Health care What it means for you, Healthcare, Healthcare Bill, healthcare reform, Time line
