By Senator Carl Levin*WASHINGTON, D. C. -- The long debate over health care reform has concluded. What we have achieved will make a real and lasting positive difference for Michigan families, those who now have insurance and those who lack it.
Despite claims that the reforms we have passed are some sort of radical, government takeover of our health care system, the legislation we have approved makes careful changes designed to make our health care system work better for all of us. Instead of scrapping the current system, in which most Americans get their insurance through their employer, we have made it more secure. Most of the 176 million Americans who get their insurance through their job will see few changes, and those they do see will mean more affordable and effective coverage.
Some changes will happen soon. Some small businesses will receive a tax cut to make it more affordable to provide insurance to their employees. Within six months, insurers will be required to allow women to see an ob-gyn without prior approval, and to let parents keep coverage for their children until age 26. Insurers will be prohibited in most cases from denying coverage to children based on pre-existing conditions. By October, the federal government will begin helping states set up agencies to help consumers shop for the best coverage and to file complaints against unfair decisions by their current insurance company.
The new law means immediate improvements for seniors receiving Medicare. This year, we will begin closing the gap in prescription drug coverage known as the "doughnut hole" by providing a $250 credit to seniors who fall into it. Also, seniors on Medicare will be entitled to preventive care without facing co-payments or deductibles.
Because health care is so complex, other changes will take time to implement. Eventually, insurers will be barred from denying coverage to people of all ages based on pre-existing conditions, eliminating a key source of the uncertainty many Americans feel about the dependability of their insurance. Insurers will be prohibited from denying coverage based on annual or lifetime limits and for charging exorbitant out-of-pocket costs. They will no longer be allowed to charge higher premiums for women based simply on gender.
We also take a host of steps to reduce another source of insecurity: the rising cost of health care, cost that threatens to put insurance out of reach for many Americans and to bankrupt our nation. Reform will bring more transparency and accountability to the insurance market, giving consumers a chance to see what they’re buying and get more bang for their buck. We will end wasteful subsidies to insurance companies that provide Medicare coverage. We will establish a panel of experts to recommend ways to provide better health care to Medicare beneficiaries at lower cost.
And we have done what Congress has all too often failed to do: pay for these changes responsibly. The wealthiest Americans -- families with more than $250,000 in annual income -- will pay slightly higher Medicare taxes. We will crack down on complex financial schemes that serve no economic purpose except to dodge taxes. And we will impose fees on the medical device makers, drug companies and insurers that will gain new customers because of our reforms. Thanks to these steps, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates health care reform will reduce the budget deficit by more than $140 billion over the first 10 years after enactment and by more than $1 trillion over the second decade.
While doing all this, we will give more than 30 million Americans who are now without insurance the ability to purchase affordable coverage that meets basic quality standards. For too long, too many of our fellow citizens have been without this basic necessity.
While the debate over reform has been heated and all too often marked by distortions and untruths, the insurance reforms I’ve described are broadly popular, from what I hear from so many Michiganians. For Michigan and for the nation, health care reform is a historic victory, one I’m proud Congress has been able to accomplish.
* Carl Levin is the senior U.S. senator from Michigan.
Editor's Note: This editorial is courtesy Sen. Carl Levin's office. It is reprinted here with permission.
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