Today or tomorrow, the U.S. House of Representatives will pass a bill that repeals the Healthcare Reform Act that was signed into law last year. That, of course, is the law that has generated so much controversy in this country. I personally support this much needed law.
If you also support this law, don’t worry at all when you hear that the House has repealed it. It’s all a big show.
The Republican Party campaigned in 2010 promising to repeal the law. And they will take this first step. But that’s as far as it will go. The next step would be for the repeal to be considered by the U.S. Senate and the Democratic Party still runs things over there. But, let’s think worst case scenario. Let’s say that the Senate also repeals the law. In that case, the next step is the repeal legislation would go to the President and guess what he will do? He’ll veto the bill.
When a bill is vetoed, it goes back to the House and the Senate. Both of those bodies can override what the President did but they have to get two-thirds of their body to vote for repeal. And the Republicans don’t have those numbers.
So, you can watch what is going on with interest if you’ve got nothing to do. The Republicans are just doing this so they can go back to their constituents and tell them that they “fought” to repeal that “horrible law.”
At this point, I assume you know that a new health care system is being implemented in this country. If you don’t know this then…..well, there is no sense in reading this cause, honey, you are on another planet.
We’ve heard all the arguing and seen some of the commercials and watched the elections and all. We’ve heard how the new Speaker of the House, John Boehner, has vowed to repeal the new law. Well, that’s a total crock because while the House of Representatives will vote to repeal it, it’s unlikely that the Senate will do the same and, if by some chance they do repeal it, well, Obama-Man is sitting there with his ole veto pen. End of story.
We’re gonna be living with this new law for some time. That being the case, I thought I would regularly send you a short explanation of what all of this means to you to cut through all of the stuff that you see and don’t have time to sort out.
A number of the provisions of the law will not take effect for quite a while, but some things are already in effect. So, right now, here’s the deal:
Any health plan that you get through your job or any new individual plan has to let any kids you have under 19 to have coverage. In other words, they cannot be denied coverage if they are already sick or have some medical condition.
If your health insurance allows you to have coverage for your dependents, then they can be covered until they are 26 years old. After that, you kick them out of the house and they’re on their own.
Insurance companies cannot drop you from their plans when you get sick just because you made a mistake on your coverage application.
Many insurance companies say that during your lifetime you can only be covered up to a certain point. Today, there are no limits.
If your employer offers a health plan, you generally can’t be turned away or charged a higher premium because of your health status or disability. This protection is called “nondiscrimination.”
If family members are eligible but are not currently enrolled under your health plan at work, you may be able to add them during a “special enrollment” opportunity outside of the usual “open enrollment” period.
The National Women’s Law Center has just issued a “report card” on the state of women’s health in this country – and it looks like we’re failing girls.
The Center reviewed the goals of the recent “Healthy People” initiative and found that 23 of the 26 goals outlined in the government’s plan so far remained unmet. Now, this is a decade long effort but still, it doesn’t look good. When referring specifically to women, the report found that more women are engaging in binge drinking and less women are being screened for cervical cancer than in 2007. Indeed, the percentage of women who reported consuming five or more drinks at a time in the past month jumped more than 3% since 2007, to 10.6%, while the percentage of women who received annual pap smears dropped nearly 10% to 78% over the same time period.
And there’s more! According to the Center, more women reported obesity, hypertension and diabetes than they did in 2007. More tested positive for chlamydia. And here’s no surprise, out of all the states in the union guess which ones came in dead last? Yep, Louisiana and Mississippi came in 50th and 51st, respectively. Big shock, huh?
Still, in every report, there has to be some good news, right? Well, I found it. One indicator – cholesterol
Women
screening — received a higher grade than in the previous report. Also, three goals of the Healthy People 2010 initiative were met, including the percentage of women receiving regular mammograms, visiting the dentist and screening for colorectal cancer. Also worth noting is that the rate of smoking among women declined in 42 states, making that one of the most improved health status indicators.
Still, it’s clear to me that you girls have got to get your act together, especially you young ones. Sure, you may not feel bad right now and you probably cannot even imagine what it will be like to be 60 years old but unless you take care of yourself now, you’re gonna pay for it later. I’m 61 and as I said in a previous post, I probably drank too much in my younger days. And, now I am struggling with gout.
It ain’t fun getting old, my dears….Don’t make things worse by not taking care of yourself now.
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