The high cost of hospitalization and medical care means that lacking health insurance could put you and your family at risk of being one injury or diagnosis away from bankruptcy. Statistics show that lacking health insurance poses a greater risk of financial catastrophe than lacking car insurance or homeowner’s insurance.
A new report released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows that most families without health insurance don’t have the financial assets to pay the hospital bills they would incur if a family member were to be hospitalized. The new report found that most uninsured families have virtually no savings or investments. In fact, the median financial assets for an uninsured family are twenty dollars.
One of the primary purposes of health insurance is to protect against the risk of incurring unaffordable medical bills. Although people are 50-percent more likely to have car accident than to be hospitalized in a given year, the average bill for a hospital visit is over two and a half times higher than the average loss for a car accident. And, while the bill for a single hospitalization is about the same as the average loss from a house fire, a person is ten times more likely to be hospitalized than to experience a house fire.
Ultimately, uninsured families are forced to choose between going without care or facing health care bills they are unable to pay. When the uninsured receive care they cannot afford, other payers must absorb the cost. This uncompensated care leads to higher costs for Americans with insurance and their employers.
Having so many uninsured American families is unsafe and unsustainable. Health insurance is crucial to protecting families from unexpected hospital costs. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act, families now have more freedom and control over their health care choices. If you are uninsured, some of the important new benefits include new coverage choices:
- Most young adults can stay on their parent’s family plan until they turn 26
- Most health plans cannot deny coverage to children under age 19 because of pre-existing conditions
- If you have been uninsured because of a pre-existing condition, you may be eligible to join the more than 18,000 Americans insured through the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan. To find out about plans available in your State, visit: www.pcip.gov
It is not easy for people without health insurance to receive adequate care. Instead, uninsured individuals must make the decision to receive life saving care now, only to be plagued with bankruptcy and financial ruin in the future. However, thanks to the reforms driven by the Affordable Care Act, more families will be able to receive comprehensive coverage and fewer families will have to delay care.
Go here to read the new report. And the press release can be found here.
You heal scraped knees with band-aids. You hold your child’s hand at the doctor’s office and you definitely know the difference between the stomach flu and a fear of book reports. Who are you? You’re a Mom.
As a Mom myself, I’m familiar with how busy life gets taking care of our children and family. Now, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, there are tools out there that offer some peace of mind. The Affordable Care Act gives Mothers across the country the freedom from worrying about having their family’s health insurance coverage dropped, denied, or limited. Some of the many new benefits include:
- Coverage for Pre-Existing Conditions. Today, children cannot be denied coverage because of their pre-existing conditions. And starting in 2014, this protection will extend to all Americans, when insurance companies will no longer be allowed to discriminate based on health status.
- No Gender Rating. Prior to the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies charged higher premiums just for being a woman. Starting in 2014, many insurance companies will be prohibited from charging higher premiums to women.
- Coverage for preventive services. Recommended preventive services that help keep you healthy, like mammograms and flu shots, are now available at no out-of-pocket cost in many health plans.
- Manage your care. If you are on a new insurance plan, you can choose your primary care doctor or OB-GYN in your insurer’s network without a referral.
- Coverage for children up to age 26. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, most young adults can stay on their parent’s family plan until they turn 26. It doesn’t matter if they are financially independent, married, living with you, or in school. They’re covered.
- Help for family members on Medicare. If your parents or other loved ones are enrolled in Medicare, the Affordable Care Act protects their guaranteed benefits and extends the life of the Medicare Trust Fund. This means, Medicare is more likely to be there not just for your Mother and you, but for your kids and grandkids. The law also gives people with Medicare free preventive care and reduces prescription drug costs.
So you can keep healing those bumps and bruises and continue doing what you do best: knowing exactly what your family needs. But remember, when it comes time to getting the health coverage and services you need, the Affordable Care Act is here to make sure every American, including our invincible Moms, are getting the quality care they deserve at a price they can afford.
From one Mother to Mothers everywhere, Happy Mother’s Day!
America has a skilled health care workforce and great hospitals. Every day, our health professionals are committed to improving care processes and systems for patients. Health care professionals have been encouraging Medicare to update payment procedures for a long time; validating the quality of care they provide to patients over the quantity. By improving transparency, we are envisioning a health system where all Americans get the best possible care. So how will your doctor, your hospital, and Medicare align to fight disease and provide you with the best possible care?
Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program, created under the Affordable Care Act. This program provides hospitals with incentive payments based on their performance on a number of health care quality measures. These quality measures include:
- How quickly do heart attack patients receive potentially life-saving surgery?
- How often do patients with heart failure get the discharge instructions they need to help them care for themselves?
- How satisfied are patients with their experience of care at the hospital?
This is an important national initiative that will give hospitals greater financial incentives to continually improve how they deliver care. The better a hospital does on its quality measures, the greater the incentive payment it will receive from Medicare under the initiative. This will help improve the odds that every patient receives the best care, regardless of the location of treatment. It also encourages “patient-centered” care. The Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program captures information about patient satisfaction with their care. It asks the important questions about how well hospital staff communicated with patients during and after a hospitalization and the overall cleanliness of the hospital environment.
As the largest payer for hospital services, Medicare is in a special position to reward hospitals for looking for ways to improve how a patient experiences an inpatient stay. The new program encourages hospitals to adopt practices that have been shown to be effective in improving patient outcomes. Equally important, it will be looking very carefully at whether the patient feels that he or she has been treated with respect and compassion, and has been given the opportunity to participate in decisions about treatment.
Are you wondering how your local hospital measures up? Well, you can head to www.HealthCare.gov/compare/ to find the Hospital Compare Care Quality tool to find out how hospitals across the country are doing on 44 different care quality measures.
The Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program is just one part of a broad-ranging effort by the Obama Administration to improve the quality of health care for all Americans, using important new tools provided by the Affordable Care Act – including the Partnership for Patients.
Through this program, Medicare is helping to improve patient safety and quality of care. The time has come for all of us to be on the same page and distinguish adequate care from excellent care. This payment plan places the patient at the center of care. Hospitals are now paid for how well they provide care, and more importantly, how well the patient does under their care. Together with our vigilant healthcare work force, hospitals will be able to continue to find ways to provide even more excellent care to every one of their patients.
To learn more about Hospital Value-based Purchasing, please visit this page.
If you’re a student, getting to your 8:00am biology class on time is difficult. Or maybe it is hard for you to focus in your 3:00pm French literature class. You have to make time to do laundry and study for finals. And don’t you dare forget to call your Mom!
Young adults account for one of the largest groups of uninsured Americans, who are nearly twice as likely to go without health insurance as older adults are. That is because prior to the Affordable Care Act, if you’re a young adult, you had to go off your parent’s plan at 19 or whenever you left school. This left many young adults who decided to complete school or pursue a graduate degree uninsured, without options. As students, you have enough on your minds without having to worry about health insurance coverage. Thanks to the health care law, you can now stay on your parent’s health insurance plan until you are 26.
To help spread the word about this new benefit, I teamed up with Education Secretary Arne Duncan to help educate you, the graduating class of 2011, about your new rights and benefits under the Affordable Care Act.
We sent letters to college and university presidents as well as student body presidents outlining how the Affordable Care Act can help you obtain health coverage. The letter also includes new tools available to help share this information with all students and parents.
These tools include:
- Universities or student groups can post a new “badge” on their website that automatically links to information about how students can remain on their parents’ health insurance plan. Download the badge by visiting www.healthcare.gov/stay_connected.html#ya.
- New flyers outlining the new benefits can be distributed to students, and are available for download here on Healthcare.gov.
- The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education will help colleges or student groups host a session to explain insurance options.
- Young adults and parents can get information about health coverage for individuals under age 26 on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/youngadultcoverage.
The need for health insurance doesn’t end graduation day. As my colleague Secretary Duncan said, “working with college and university presidents and student body presidents, we will help more young adults start off their new independent lives with the security of health insurance and knowing they can get the care they need to stay healthy and pursue their dreams.”
So while you might be pulling all-nighters, it won’t be because you are stressing about health insurance coverage. You can focus on your studies and have access to quality health care when you need it. But seriously, don’t forget to call your Mom! We can’t help you with that.
Approximately nine million Americans are eligible for both the Medicare and Medicaid programs. These individuals, also known as “dual eligibles,” are among our nation’s lowest-income and chronically ill citizens. While this is a small percentage of the approximately 100 million people enrolled in the two programs, they account for about $300 billion in spending a year across both programs – creating a financial burden on States as well as the Federal government.
Currently, these vulnerable seniors and the providers who care for them are confronted with the daunting challenge of navigating two different programs that have confusing and sometimes conflicting rules. Improved coordination between Medicare and Medicaid can help dual eligibles access necessary services; improve quality and efficiency of the care they receive; and reduce State and Federal costs.
Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced initiatives, funded by the Affordable Care Act, that will give States more resources and flexibility to adopt innovative new practices and provide better, more coordinated care for dual eligibles.
Fifteen states across the county have been selected to design new ways to meet the often complex and costly medical needs of these citizens. Under the State Demonstrations to Integrate Care for Dual Eligible Individuals, selected States will be awarded up to $1 million to design strategies for implementing person-centered models that fully coordinate primary, acute, behavioral and long-term supports and services for dual eligible individuals. States will work with beneficiaries, their providers, advocates and other stakeholders to develop their demonstration proposals.
This is a wonderful opportunity for States to develop innovative, flexible and effective models to improve health outcomes, reduce costs and improve the lives of our Seniors.
CMS will work with States to implement the plans that hold the most promise and will continue working with all States to support their efforts in improving care for dual eligible individuals.
The ultimate goal of these efforts is to improve the lives of real people that depend on these two programs every day.
To read more, check out this fact sheet.