Today the health and human services secretary Kathleen Sebelius released an extensive report detailing the state by state impact of the senate health bill and i have to say it looks like it could be pretty good for the state of Michigan which means its gonna be good for me personally. lets hope this gets passed for my sake just incase something else crazy happens to me. below are some highlights of the benefits the state will eventually be receiving
1.3 million residents who do not currently have insurance and 459,000 residents who have nongroup insurance could get affordable coverage through the health insurance exchange. <------I could've used that months ago and could still use it now
279,000 seniors would have their brand-name drug costs in the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole” halved. <---------my grandmother could really use that one. she already pays way too much money for her medicine
1.6 million seniors would receive free preventive services <---------more help for grandma
109,000 small businesses could be helped by a small business tax credit to make premiums more affordable <---------we should've done that years ago. it would've been good for me a few months ago
and now here are some of the more immediate benefits from the health care bill(if it passes) that the state of michigan will be receiving
1. Insurance companies will no longer be able to impose lifetime limits on the amount of care you receive
2. 9 percent of people in Michigan have diabetes2, and 29 percent have high blood pressure3 – two conditions that insurance companies could use as a reason to deny health insurance coverage. Reform will establish a high-risk pool to enable people who cannot get insurance today to find an affordable health plan<----- this one basically covers two things that run in my family all at the same time
3. 31 percent of Michigan residents have not had a colorectal cancer screening, and 17 percent of women over 50 have not had a mammogram in the past two years.4 Health insurance reform will ensure that people can access preventive services for free through their health plans. It will also invest in a prevention and public health fund to encourage prevention and wellness programs. <--- why this isnt free now is still puzzling to me because if you can catch the disease earlier you can kill the disease,save time,save effort,save money and save a life
4. An estimated 192,000 people from Michigan have early retiree coverage through their former employers, but early retiree coverage has eroded over time.5 A reinsurance program would stabilize early retiree coverage and provide premium relief to both early retirees and the workers in the firms that provide their health benefits. This could save families up to $1,200 on premiums. <---- my grandfather would've loved this one
5. the plan would actually reduce the price of prescription drugs by close to 50% for seniors enrolled in medicare and this starts in 2010 not 2014 as once speculated
6. the lowered costs of providing care will save the state of michigan hundreds of millions of dollars which is very helpful considering the current budget crisis
7. the bill reduces the amount of uncompensated care Right now, providers in Michigan lose $2 billion in uncompensated care each year which states subsidize at least in part. Instead, under reform, uncompensated care would begin to be reduced immediately as more uninsured people gain coverage.
8. currently the uncompensated care in this state gets covered by slightly raising taxes on everything. with the reduced amount of uncompensated care taxes might actually start to get lower on a few things
9. last year alone people in the state of michigan spent almost $11 billion in out of pocket costs for everything from check ups to surgeries and without health reform it will be up to almost almost $17 billion in out of pocket costs for this state that has just under 10 million people. this means that on average last year everybody here would've spent about $1100 in out of pocket costs if everyone had insurance but since
12.5% of the people here dont have insurance those out of pocket costs are really around $1255 per person for the people that have insurance. thats entirely too much money and with the bill a lot of people (three quarters of a million) would get a tax credit to ease those costs
10. theyre finally gonna put everything on computers.....because its about to be 2010 and we shouldnt be doing this like we did it in 1950
Physicians spend on average about 140 hours and $68,000 a year just dealing with health insurance bureaucracy.For the 34,091 physicians in Michigan, this adds up to 4.8 million hours and $2.3 billion in costs.By simplifying and standardizing paperwork and computerizing medical records, doctors will be able to focus on caring for their patients instead of dealing with bureaucracy. <-------we're wasting 2 billion dollars on paper and bullshit. we can save money and the environment with this one
11. Primary care physicians would receive a 5-10 percent increase in pay thanks to the bills heavy focus on preventative care
12. Approximately 1.1 million people, or 11 percent of Michigan’s population, cannot access a primary care provider due to shortages in their communities. Health insurance reform will expand and improve programs to increase the number of health care providers, including doctors, nurses, and dentists, especially in rural and other underserved areas
The Michigan Health report
Health Reform dot Gov
state health facts
