Connie Phillips Insurance Blog

Your Maryland Insurance will be impacted as a result of the “reformed” health insurance Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  The real impact in the health insurance system won’t occur until the year 2014.  During the interim, there will be the phase-in of additional new taxes that will provide added government revenue to pay for these changes. Here is a brief summary for your review:

The most immediate elements of the bill that are expected to occur in 2010 are:

•    Tax credits for certain small businesses.
•    Elimination of pre-existing conditions and an increase in dependant coverage to age 26.
•    Creation of a temporary reinsurance program to provide coverage for retirees over 55 who are not eligible for Medicare.
•    The further creation of a temporary national high risk insurance pool.
•    The prohibition of lifetime limits on benefit payments.
•    Closing the so called “doughnut hole” by providing immediate tax credits for Medicare patients who face a gap in prescription drug coverage.
The key elements of the bill that will be phased in over the next eight years are:
•    Mandate that everyone must have insurance.
•    Result in more than 30 million additional people becoming insured.
•    Provide for subsidized coverage for people that can’t afford it and increase the number of people that will qualify for Medicaid.
•    Make cuts to Medicare Advantage Plans and change their payment formula.
•    Increase taxes and fees to many individual Americans and Corporations.
•    Make many changes to the way Insurance Companies do business from not allowing them to use pre-existing conditions to limiting their rates based on medical loss ratios.

There will be further changes and amendments during the Senate consideration.  Thus, this is not a final document.