Bill ends pre-existing conditions for kids in 6 months

soundoff (5 Responses)

1. Bill Shannon
   

   We have a son with Autism. What the interview does not include is that all insurance companies stop paying for speech and physical therapy at 3 years old which we ran into with BlueCross. I think the elimination of pre-existing conditions is great but for a parent that will have to get therapy for an Autistic child for many years and does not get coverage under current insurance will be faced with massive amounts of costs. We are well into $200,000 spent so far in 3 years. I feel that just regulating insurance companies and not a single payer program is the solution because of the rationing of health care in a single payer program like the U.K. Currently, the wait time to get help for an autistic child in the U.K. is 7 years. That is ridiculous and would completely miss the most important time for an autistic child which is year 2 – 7. I hope that this new reform bill does not have the U.S turn into the U.K. type insurance and that it is just regulating the insurance industry which Congress is mandated to do by the Constitution: regulate Commerce not Run It.

   March 22, 2010 at 12:16 pm |
2. Jessie Oglesby
   

   CNN...I have supported the health care reform since initial campaign promises by the president. Two years ago I became Medicare eligible. My insurance by my employer was stopped. I have a kidney transplant and other health conditions that came with it, like Diabetes amd High Blood Pressure. I am on multiple prescriptions medications. I went into the donut hole the first month. If it had not been for patient assistance programs I don't know what I would have done. To simply take care of house-hold expenses versus buying my meds versus paying co-payments at the doctor's office and paying the co-insurance, left us in a quandry each month as to how we were going to survive.

   March 22, 2010 at 9:50 am |
3. Ralph Patch
   

   As an uninsured husband of a teacher, I'm counting on finally getting affordable coverage. I'm not sure if I'll get it with this bill or not but I think we have to start somewhere. It would take $1,000 per month to be added to my wife's policy. I'm sure this bill will improve on that.

   March 22, 2010 at 9:48 am |
4. Michael Manning
   

   Please replace my earlier submission with the following:

   Many, many, people I have talked to in the sate of Oklahoma are concerned President Obama has forced through a health care bill that mandates coverage without considering how middle-class and lower income workers will pay for the coverage.

   Insurance companies are almost certain to raise rates now that Americans will be forced to have coverage or pay a fine.

   Hospitals are likely to raise rates to cover the added cost of treating individuals who do not have coverage but are paying the fine.

   I know many public school teachers in the state of Oklahoma, for example, that take home about $2,000 per month.

   The state pays for their health care coverage but does not pay for their family’s coverage.

   The cost of coverage for a teachers' family is about $700.00 per month – an amount that is a little over 1/3 of their take home salary.

   How does President Obama expect teachers (just one example) to pay the premium for this insurance? Most of the teachers I know already have a second job to help support their family’s needs.

   If the President cannot provide a very good answer to this question, I feel it is very likely he will be a one-term president.

   I voted for President Obama.

   I hope he has the answer to the “affordability” question for the American's he is trying to insure.

   Regards,

   Michael Manning
   Instructor,
   Business Strategy and Entrepreneurship
   University of Oklahoma

   March 22, 2010 at 9:44 am |
5. Michael Manning
   

   Many, many people I have talked to in the sate of Oklahoma are concerned President Obama has forced through a health care bill that mandates coverage without considering how middle-class and lower income workers will pay for the coverage. Insurance companies and hospitals are almost certain to raise rates now that Americans will be forced to have coverage or pay a fine and hospitals have to treat individuals who do not have coverage but are paying the fine.

   I know many public school teachers (which I was until this year) in the state of Oklahoma that take home about $2,000 per month.

   The state pays for their health care coverage but does not pay for their family’s coverage.

   The cost of coverage for their families is about $700.00 per month, an amount that is a little over 1/3 of their take home salary.

   How does President Obama expect teachers to pay the premium for this insurance? Most of these teachers already have a second job to help support their family’s needs.

   If the President cannot provide a very good answer to this question, I feel it is very likely he will be a one-term president.

   I have been lucky, in that I know teach at a public university – however, I still pay $300.00 per month to provide some very basic medical insurance for my wife.

   I voted for President Obama.

   I hope he has the answer to the “affordability” question for the Americans he is trying to insure.

   The answer to this question, in my opinion, may very well determine his future in 2014.

   Regards,

   Michael Manning
   Instructor,
   Business Strategy and Entrepreneurship
   University of Oklahoma

   March 22, 2010 at 9:31 am |