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Lives have been improved with Affordable Care Act

Missoulian Guest Column, August 24, 2012

http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/columnists/lives-have-been-improved-with-affordable-care-act/article_16125130-edf3-11e1-b845-001a4bcf887a.html

Health care in Montana has changed since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as ObamaCare) went into effect. Many have an opinion about the Act and what should happen to it. To decide what you think, here are some important facts regarding how it has affected lives of everyday Montanans:

■ Young adults. Health plans must now allow parents to keep children under 26 on the parents’ health plan, leading to 12,000 young Montanans gaining insurance coverage as of December 2011.

■ Prescription medications are more affordable for seniors. 11,500 Montanans with Medicare received a $250 rebate to help cover prescription drug costs and others received a 50 percent discount on brand-name prescription drugs. Since the law was enacted, Montanans with Medicare have saved $10,993,915 on prescription drugs.

■ Increased access to and coverage of preventive services. In 2011, 115,065 Montanans with Medicare received a free wellness visit or free preventive services (such as colonoscopies or mammograms). In the first five months of 2012, 42,844 Montanans with Medicare received free preventive services. 166,000 Montanans with private health insurance gained preventive service insurance coverage with no cost-sharing by the individual.

■ Insurance companies must focus on the patient. Insurance companies now must spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on health care, not on overhead such as executive salaries; if the company does not it must pay a rebate to customers. 25,353 Montana residents received an insurance company rebate averaging $194 for 13,400 Montana families.

■ No more health benefit limits. Lifetime limits are no longer allowed. Annual health benefit limits are restricted and will be completely banned in 2014. This permits Montanans with chronic diseases to receive ongoing treatment as long as needed, no longer limited by lifetime or annual insurance limits.

■ No more denial based on pre-existing conditions. Insurance companies now must cover individuals even if they have pre-existing conditions. As of April 2012, 317 previously uninsured Montanans with pre-existing conditions were able to obtain insurance coverage.

■ Actions to prevent disease and promote health are increasing. Montana received $3.9 million in grants to increase efforts to promote health, allowing Montanans to lead longer, more productive lives.

■ More effective community health centers. Montana’s 83 existing community health centers received $36.5 million to improve Montanans’ health by enabling centers to increase the number of patients served, expand services and create new sites in medically underserved areas.

The Act provided grants to allow Montana to build the health care workforce, support public health and crack down on fraud. Examples include:

■ Assistance for Medicare recipients. $100,000 for outreach to assist Medicare beneficiaries to learn more about their benefits; and $100,000 to discover new ways to increase health of Medicare beneficiaries through disease demonstration projects.

■ Assistance for Montanans exposed to environmental health hazards. $2.5 million for screening, health education and outreach services for Montanans possibly exposed to environmental health hazards.

■ Improved health care workforce. $72,000 to support the National Health Service Corps in assisting Montana to repay educational leans of health care professionals who practice in areas with a shortage of health professionals; $5.4 million for training for individuals to enter healthcare professions facing shortages; and $150,000 to teaching community health centers to create new residency slots.

■ Better care for children. $500,000 for school-based health centers to provide more services; and $286,700 for organizations for families with children with special care needs;

■ Improving the lives of families. $5.1 million for Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs that improve the health, development and learning of children by connecting at-risk families with health care professionals; and $2 million from the Pregnancy Assistance Fund to provide pregnant and parenting teens and women with support so they can complete high school or secondary education degrees and access child care, health care and housing.

The above describes how this Act has affected Montana (Source: www.healthcare.gov/law/resources/mt.html). People need to know the truth about the Act and what it means to them and their neighbors. The lives of a broad array of individuals, from newborns to seniors, have been improved. If one wants to repeal the Act, then by consequence, one wants to do away with all of the above-listed benefits. Please think about this when you are casting your vote in November.

Kimberly Dudik is an attorney, registered nurse and master of public health living in Missoula. She is a candidate for Montana House District 99.