The Congressional Budget Office has released an estimate of the budgetary effects of the ‘H.R. 3590, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’. In short, the legislation is projected to provide a net reduction in the Federal deficit of $118 billion over the period 2010-2019.
President Obama’s Health Care Law Is Already Helping Thousands of New Mexicans
For years, the health insurance market has been broken for American consumers. Families have struggled to afford insurance as premiums rose three times faster than wages over the last decade, all while insurance companies had free reign to drop care, deny care, and limit care. The 129 million people with pre --existing conditions could be denied coverage by private insurance companies, and millions of Americans were uninsured, underinsured, or worried about losing the coverage they had. President Obama believes that quality, affordable health insurance you can rely on is at the heart of middle class security. That’s why he fought for a health care law that would help all Americans not only obtain coverage but also become more secure in the coverage they have. In the two years since the Affordable
Care Act passed, the law has already brought that security to people across the country. In fact, millions of New Mexicans have already experienced firsthand the important benefits of the health care law. From seniors with Medicare, to women getting mammograms, to children living with pre-existing conditions, New Mexico families are seeing the health care law in action. These benefits include:
Before the health care law, too many Americans skipped needed preventive care because of the costs. Since the law passed 434,000 New Mexicans have benefited from new rules providing access to preventive care – like mammograms, colon cancer screenings, and immunizations – with no out of pocket costs, which will improve their health and quality of life while also reducing health costs.
Insurance companies used to be able to raise rates without transparency or explanation, cancel a family’s insurance coverage because of trivial paperwork mistakes, or put lifetime caps on the amount
of care a patient could receive if she was diagnosed with a serious condition like breast cancer. Because of the health care law, those days have come to end, protecting 899,000 New Mexicans.
122,000 New Mexico children have pre--existing conditions. The health care law makes sure that no insurance company can ever again deny coverage to these children because of their health.
Before the Affordable Care Act insurance companies would kick young people off their parents’ plan when they graduated from school, often before they had a good job with benefits, which made young people the group most likely to be uninsured. The health care law requires insurance companies to let young people stay on their family plan until age 26, and today an additional 21,000 young adults in New
Mexico are now covered through their parents’ plans.
The health care law protects and strengthens Medicare. 320,000 New Mexico seniors now benefit from a stronger Medicare program. The solvency of the program has been extended by eight years, and new prescription drug discounts have saved 19,000 New Mexico seniors an average of $490.
Insurance companies have often charged women 50% more than men for the exact some health coverage – just because of their gender. Soon, 490,000 New Mexico women and girls will be protected against discrimination, such as higher premiums just because they are women. In the coming months, the benefits of the Affordable Care Act will continue to grow. New reforms will reduce costs while promoting higher quality care. Seniors will see continued improvements in Medicare. And in two years, all Americans will know that regardless of their circumstances – whether they lose their job, or want to change jobs, retire early, or start a business – they’ll have access to affordable health insurance.
Preventive care with no out-of-pocket costs is making a difference for 434,000 New Mexicans. We all know that preventive care can save money and save lives, but too often Americans forego needed preventive services because of cost. In New Mexico 29% of women over 40 are not up to date on their mammograms and 39% of New Mexicans over 50 have never had a colon cancer screening, even though doctors know these procedures save lives.
But the Affordable Care Act takes important steps to reverse this trend and make sure all New Mexicanscan afford the preventive care they need. The law prohibits private insurance companies from charging a co-pay or deductible for recommended preventive services, like mammograms, colon cancer screenings, flu shots and other immunizations, contraception, and regular well-baby and well-child visits with a pediatrician. In the last year, 285,000New Mexicans – including 111,000 women, 10,0000 men, and 75,000 children – have seen their coverage for prevention expanded, which will help them get the care they need.
People with Medicare are also guaranteed free preventive care, including the services seniors need to stay healthy. In 2011, 149,000 New Mexico seniors got a free preventive service in Medicare. Nationwide, Medicare provided women 6 million free mammograms, 2.8 million free bone mass measurement tests, and 1.4 million free GYN exams.
New Mexicoinsurance companies have to play by the rules. In New Mexico, 899,000 people get health coverage from a private insurance company.Before the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies had too much power in the insurance market. They would arbitrarily cap and cancel New Mexicans’ benefits, or refuse to cover kids just because they were born with a pre-existing condition.
Today, the health care law has put an end to some of the worst insurance industry abuses. The law is making sure that families’ insurance is really there for them when they need it by keeping insurance companies from taking advantage of New Mexico consumers. In fact, because of the Affordable Care Act, millions of New Mexicanshave seen their insurance coverage get better. Here’s how:
- An estimated 555,000 New Mexicans used to have lifetime caps on their care, so thousands of families facing a serious illness would learn that their insurance company was cutting them off when they needed coverage most. But today, these caps are banned for good. This means that if a patient gets breast cancer or has an accident, her coverage will continue even if her treatments are expensive – and New Mexico families won’t be facing bankruptcy because their benefits run out.
- Insurance companies are finally prevented from canceling coverage because of small paperwork mistakes. Before the health care law if a woman was diagnosed with breast cancer some insurance companies would run a computer program to detect minor mistakes they could use as an excuse to cancel her coverage – even if she had been paying her premiums on time. This wasn’t fair for the 1,100 New Mexico women diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and the health care law put an end to this discrimination.
- As many as 122,000 New Mexico children have pre-existing conditions. Because of the health care law, no insurance company can deny coverage to kids because of pre-existing conditions like asthma and diabetes. And in two years, insurance companies will be prohibited from denying coverage or charging more because of anyone’s pre-existing condition, benefiting all 860,000 New Mexicans under the age of 65 who have a health condition that could make it hard to find their own insurance.
- The 899,000 New Mexicans with private insurance are protected by reforms that help keep premiums low. Before the health care law, some insurance companies spent as much as 40% of premiums on administrative overhead like marketing and CEO bonuses. But the health care law requires all New Mexico insurance companies to spend at least 80% of premiums on health care and quality improvement. In addition, if an insurance company wants to raise rates by 10% or more, they have to justify their actions to independent experts.
The health care law strengthens Medicare for 320,000 New Mexicans. Today, seniors across New Mexico rely on Medicare, and the program provides coverage for 320,000 New Mexicans. President Obama knows that Medicare is an essential program that must be kept strong for today’s seniors and future generations. That’s why the health care law filled gaps and improved coverage for every single person with Medicare, while removing wasteful subsidies for insurance companies.
In fact, the health care law extended the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by eight years at the same time that it is bringing new benefits to New Mexico seniors. The Medicare prescription drug “doughnut hole” used to leave seniors paying thousands of dollars for the medicines they need. But the health care law is closing the doughnut hole.
- In 2011 alone, New Mexico seniors saved millions of dollars because of the President’s law. 11,000 New Mexico women saved $5.1 millionon their prescription drugs, an average of $480 each. In total, 19,000 New Mexicans saved $9.2 million.
More New Mexico young people have the security that health insurance provides. Insurance companies used to kick young people off their family health plan after high school or college. Some insurance companies would only cover students if they were in school full-time – so young people who were working part-time to put themselves through school part-time would be locked out of the insurance market completely. Together, this made young adults the age group most likely to be uninsured.
The health care law makes sure that young people who were working hard to begin their careers can stay on their family health insurance plan until they turn 26. Today, 21,000 young New Mexicans who would otherwise be uninsured have coverage because of this rule. Nationwide, 2.5 million young adults have gained coverage because of the law.
Discrimination against New Mexico women is coming to an end. Before the health care law, insurance companies were free to discriminate against women – and they did, charging women 50% more than men for the same insurance coverage. Young women were especially vulnerable to this discrimination, since insurance companies charged them more because they might become pregnant. Even if a woman’s policy did not cover maternity care, she would still be charged more because the insurance company feared it would be on the hook for complications from her pregnancy. That’s simply not fair to the 490,000 women and girls with private insurance in New Mexico. Because of the health care law, within two years, insurance companies will no longer be allowed to do this.