Wednesday, September 22, 2010

For Many Americans, Health Care Relief Really Begins After Midnight, Tonight


So, at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Thursday -- in under an hour or so -- some of the most-anticipated features of US health care reform will commence.

Again, the New York Times is right on the spot, with this:

. . . .Starting now, insurance companies will no longer be permitted to exclude children because of pre-existing health conditions, which the White House said could enable 72,000 uninsured to gain coverage. Insurers also will be prohibited from imposing lifetime limits on benefits.

The law will now forbid insurers to drop sick and costly customers after discovering technical mistakes on applications. It requires that they offer coverage to children under 26 on their parents’ policies.

It establishes a menu of preventive procedures, like colonoscopies, mammograms and immunizations, that must be covered without co-payments. And it allows consumers who join a new plan to keep their own doctors and to appeal insurance company reimbursement decisions to a third party. . . .

Again, the NYT -- on point.

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