HR 3200 Questions for Congress - Sections 100 - 102

August 11, 2009

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Socialize:

Here is the fax I sent today to our representatives. If you haven't started reading the Health Care Reform bill (HR 3200), you should. This is the only way we can question the legislation and ask our representatives what different parts of the bill mean and why they support it. I tried to remain professional and party neutral throughout the questions. The questions are real and should not depend on which party I support.

I know you can't believe everything you hear in the media, but from the past 8 months history of bailouts, stimuluses etc, many congress members admitted they didn't read those bills. Let's keep them honest this time around. If they need more time, plead with the Whitehouse and ask President Obama to grant more time to for the Congress to read the entire bill before voting.

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Thank you for representing your constituents on this very important health care reform bill (HR 3200). I am daily reviewing the HR 3200 (and related / dependant) bill due to the confusion in the public and media. I have some questions regarding the bill. I look to you, our representative, for answers to my questions. Thank you in advance. Please respond by email, (xyz@xyz.com) there is no sense in wasting tax payer money for paper and stamps.

Intro of bill reads "...reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes."

Question 1: What "other purposes"? This is very vague. I am concerned if this bill passes this intro alone gives room for changes to future congress members. Is there another section in this bill that specifically defines "other purposes"?

SEC. 100. PURPOSE; TABLE OF CONTENTS OF DIVISION; GENERAL DEFINITIONS

(a)(3)(D) initiates shared responsibility among workers, employers, and the government
Question 2: Without going into details of costs (we all know this is a massive costs to all people), can't there be another way to pay for this bill? Why not remove income and social security tax and have Federal government make revenue based on consumer consumption? Much like the HR 25 bill.

(a)(4) HEALTH DELIVERY REFORM
Question 3: "...more affordable for businesses, families, and government." Does this mean eventually the government employees, including Congress, will use the HR 3200 plan?

SEC. 101. REQUIREMENTS REFORMING HEALTH INSURANCE MARKETPLACE

(a) "...health insurance coverage and employment-based health plans that are offered..."
Question 4: We are aiming for real reform, why make citizens stick with the old model of receiving insurance through our employer? Wouldn't it make more sense to get coverage through the Government plan or their own "individual" plan? If I leave my employer, I will have to go through the insurance process again. A private individual plan would allow me to move around, change jobs, or open up my own business and still keep my plan. Wouldn't that be a cost savings for Insurance companies? Also, wouldn't this make the Insurance companies more competitive? Compared to the current setup, this option sounds more like "reform" and feels like the individual has more options.

Question 5: Also, President Obama has said repeatedly "you will have the option to [keep your plan] or use the government plan". But, in all honesty, "we the insured" don't have the option to "keep our plan", our employer does. If I work for a University with 20,000 staff, I am sure the University will move their employees to the government plan, leaving us no options. Can you please explain why you support this section and won't consider / support the private individual plan?

SEC. 102. PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT COVERAGE

(a)(3) RESTRICTIONS ON PREMIUM INCREASES- "... health insurance coverage without changing the premium for all enrollees in the same risk group at the same rate, as specified by the Commissioner."
Question 6: Does this mean the Commissioner, at will, can change the whole group's rate?

Question 7: Will the Committee ever have a say or is this Commissioner really the only one who determines the rate change?

(c)(1) "... grandfathered health insurance coverage under subsection (a) may only be offered on or after the first day of Y1 as an Exchange-participating health benefits plan..."
Question 8: Does this mean that individuals who want to purchase their own plans on/after Y1 *must* use the government plan?

Question 9: Or does it mean that private insurers would have to participate in the Health Insurance Exchange?

Question 10: If either 7. or 8. - doesn't that remove me from "keeping my own plan"? If private insurers have to participate in the Health Insurance Exhange, then how is it really "private"?

Health Care Costs

08.17.2009

Many things such as increased labor costs, resistance of consumers to managed care restrictions, the aging of the population, unhealthy lifestyles, a growing prevalence of high-cost diseases, lack of information technology, administrative costs and defensive medicine contributes to increase of health care costs. According to recent findings, just over half of the $2 trillion of health care costs in the US each year is due to wasteful practices. The health care costs that are indicated to be wasteful are behavioral, clinical, and procedural – what that means is that behavioral patterns could be addressed by someone other than a doctor, clinics order unnecessary tests, and health insurance companies might be padding their bills. The biggest cause of people needing an extra cash advance for medical care is overtesting – unnecessary procedures so the physician can cover himself legally, or just gouge patients for cash. Doctors padding bills – no wonder >health care costs drive people to needing a personal loan for a simple check up.

Greg Zwick

08.24.2009

I own a small business and have been trying to understand the impact of HR3200. I have 39 employees and offer two choices of plans for my employees 1) Blue Cross/BS and 2) Aetna. Of the 39 employees, 11 signed up for BCBS and 10 for Aetna. Of the 18 remaining employees, I know of 5 who declined because they are on a spouses plan, 1 is on Medicare and the remaining 11 declined for unknown reasons.

Will I be accessed a penalty for employees who declined coverage?

If I drop the plan and go with the public option will the 8% penalty be charged on employees who are covered from other means?

Any help would be appreciated.

elvis

08.24.2009

Hi Greg, those are good questions. Although the HR 3200 is the original bill, the house and senate have ameded the bill several times. Some of the amendments take things out of hr 3200 and others add more. Their is also another bill or two that has not been made public yet as well.

At this point, the things we should be asking is will this impact me and my employees in a good / bad way. And, will this plan hurt our liberties / freedom. And the major concern for me is costs. Can the government actually make this plan work, although Medicare is costing us 13x more than originally estimated when the plan was put into place. Can our grandchildren pay for such debt? To see just how much debt they might inherit you should watch the documentary I.O.U.S.A..

HR 3200 Questions for Congress - Sections 100 - 102