The new health care reform proposal from the U.S. House of Representatives would use government subsidies to help low- and middle-income Americans receive health insurance. The proposal affects different groups of Americans in different ways. People who are insured, people who aren’t insured as well as employers and the health care industry are all affected in some way by reform to help Americans with health conditions and personal injury.
Our firm’s experienced San Diego personal injury lawyers agree that all Americans should have some kind of health insurance because of the rising costs in medical bills for personal injuries as well as illnesses (i.e. the common cold or flu). Sweeping health care reform was a plan for the current President, and the plan proposed changes things for many different groups of Americans.
The House of Representatives passed their health care reform plan through on November 7th. The plan needs to go through the Senate before any other progress is made. (SOURCE: CNN.com)
The most help goes to individuals who are uninsured. In 2013, the plan gives government money to a number of Americans who are in the low- and middle-income tax brackets. The plan also expands Medicaid to cover more poor Americans. The lowest income level (families earning just over $29,000 per year) would not pay more than 1.5% of their income on insurance premiums.
The insurance plan also helps the uninsured by offering government-run insurance (a.k.a. the “public option”). A downside to those who don’t want insurance would have to pay a fine of a maximum of 2.5 percent of their income.
People who are already insured won’t see many of these changes. Most people would see out-of-pocket costs capped at $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for families. A new cap for tax-free flexible spending accounts would be set at $2,500 per year. Children using their parents’ insurance would still be able to use it until they turn 26. To finance that overhaul, individuals making more than $500,000 per year or families making $1 million or more would bay a 5.4 percent tax on top of their current income taxes.
Employers would be affected by the health care reform bill, depending on the size of their company. Large employers aren’t affected too much by health care reform. The health plans they offer would be grandfathered to protect the company from most of the new insurance requirements. Companies offering skimpy coverage, however, would have to pay a fine of up to eight percent of their total payroll.
Smaller employers would give tax credits to firms with no more than 25 workers and an average yearly salary of $40,000. Employers with a payroll of $500,000 or less don’t have to pay the fine if they don’t offer insurance. Small businesses have opposed the proposal because the tax on the wealthy could kick in on some depending on the tax structure of their income.
The new health care reform bill also affects different groups in the health care industry. Of those groups, insurance companies take the biggest hits. The bill forces them to stop using some of the things that provide the most money. For instance, insurers can’t charge an older customer more than twice as much as a younger one for insurance.
The health care plan proposed by the House of Representatives passed on November 7, 2009 and has to be proposed to the Senate before the President can sign it into law. Our firm’s San Diego personal injury attorneys know the passing of the proposal on Saturday is the first in many steps to get reform done. Hopefully, reform will happen sooner rather than later because there are millions of Americans without insurance that desperately need it.
Call us now at 1-800-655-6585 or click here for a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney after you get into a car accident and find out how we can help you. We speak English and Spanish, and we look forward to providing advice for your case. No fee if no recovery.
About Michael PinesMichael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who specializes in car accident injury. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes on how insurance companies work and how they decided to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael's inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents.
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Tags: Health care reform, medicare
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