On December 24, the U.S. Senate passed a landmark health care reform bill, which combined with its companion bill in the House of Representatives will expand medical care options for more than 30 million Americans. The bill was passed with a vote of 60-39.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or H.R. 3590, includes a requirement for the Access Board to develop accessibility standards for medical equipment like exam tables, authorizes funding for long-term care workers to receive additional training and prohibits discrimination in coverage decisions on the basis of disability.
The bill will increase coverage for people with autism spectrum disorders by requiring the minimum benefits standard to include behavioral health treatments. It also contains the CLASS Act, a program for people who require long-term care to purchase community-based services.
The Senate bill, like the House bill, includes a “Sense of Congress” expressing the intention to expand long-term home and community-based services for seniors and people with disabilities as part of the final bill package. However, it does not contain the public option found in the Affordable Health Care for America Act, or H.R. 3962, which was passed by the House of Representatives on November 7 with a vote of 220-215.
Americans United for Change, an advocacy group, praised the bill, saying, “Americans from every corner of the country will have a reason to be thankful for the Senate’s action today.”
Among the benefits favored by the organization are a stronger Medicare program, the prohibition of pre-existing conditions exclusions, expanded prescription drug benefits for seniors and equal premiums for men and women.
Joe Baker, president of the nonprofit consumer organization the Medicare Rights Center, called the bill’s passage an historic achievement and praised the anticipated reductions in prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients.
“The House bill phases out the coverage gap, or ‘doughnut hole,’ in the Medicare drug benefit, and both President Obama and Senate leaders have pledged to close the gap when coverage stops and consumers must pay the full price for their medicines. Medicare drug coverage will then last the whole year, instead of cutting out when consumers need it most to manage chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension,” Baker said.
However, as Congress moves forward to combine both bills into a final package, activists are also pushing for amendments.
A group of patient and provider organizations called the Coalition to End the Two-Year Wait for Medicare sent a letter to Congress January 11 requesting reforms to guarantee that the final bill package offers affordable premiums and co-pays to people with disabilities.
The letter calls on Congress to set eligibility for Medicaid at 150 percent of the federal poverty level as in the House of Representatives bill, rather than the 133 percent standard contained in the Senate bill.
The Metro New York Health Care for All Campaign, a citywide health care justice coalition, applauded the bill but suggested several amendments.
The campaign called on Congress to implement reforms sooner than 2013 or 2014, add a public insurance option, include provisions for low premium costs and out-of-pocket costs, include immigrants in the beneficiaries and strengthen the requirements for employers to offer coverage to their employees.
“In the end, the final bill will not be perfect, but it will do many good things for millions in the short-term, and will provide a new platform upon which our nation, and particularly states, can move forward in the effort for comprehensive, quality, affordable health care for all,” said the campaign’s director, Mark Hannay.
House and Senate members who make up the Conference Committee are now examining the bills to work towards resolving the differences between them. If they succeed in doing so, their committee report will become the final proposal to be voted on by the House and Senate. President Obama would then sign or veto the law.
This article was written for the February issue of Able News.
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