Health Care Bill 2010
Has anybody reviewed the impact the Health Care Bill would have on families with our special needs? These are the points that concern me the most:
I don't understand how the three penalties above are a value add? Disabled folks need the most medical devices and if they are one of the major the populations to protect, this is awful!
- Starting six months after enactment, requires all health insurance plans to maintain dependent coverage for children until they
turn 26; prohibits insurers from denying coverage to children because
of pre-existing health
problems.
(If this is required, would a disabled child/adult be better off with parents'
insurance or their own?)
- Limits medical expense contributions to tax-sheltered flexible spending
accounts (FSAs) to $2,500 a year, indexed for inflation. Raises
threshold for claiming itemized tax deduction for medical expenses from
7.5 percent of income to 10 percent. People over 65 can still deduct
medical expenses above 7.5 percent of income through 2016.
(This would be VERY bad for folks who in the gap between having enough money
to cover medical expenses and not being able to afford any.)
- Penalizes employers with more than 50 workers if any of their workers get
coverage through the exchange and receive a tax credit. The penalty is
$2,000 times the total number of workers employed at the company.
However, employers get to deduct the first 30 workers.
- Imposes a tax on employer-sponsored health insurance worth more than $10,200
for individual coverage, $27,500 for a family plan. The tax is 40
percent of the value of the plan above the thresholds, indexed for
inflation.
- Imposes a 2.3 percent sales tax on medical devices. Eyeglasses, contact lenses,
hearing aids and many everyday items bought at the drug store are
exempt.
I don't understand how the three penalties above are a value add? Disabled folks need the most medical devices and if they are one of the major the populations to protect, this is awful!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Susan Rathfelder on
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There is a lot to be concerned about with this since it is such a overwhelmingly complicated piece of legislation. Most of those who voted on it have never even read it.
If you won't be able to itemize medical expenses unless it's over 10% we would not have been able to write off the mobility conversion of the van we just bought. I am glad we bought it when we did.
We used our health savings account to buy the shower chair we just bought and that was $2,500. This is something our insurance would not have covered. It was really helpful to have that account. We were planning on using it to pay for an overhead lift system for the house, we may not be able to now. We probably would not be able to itemize it either since it wouldn't reach that 10% threshold.
I am wondering if congress is going to have to pay tax on their medical plans? I am sure as a federal employee family we will have to and we have the same plan as congress.
If a power wheelchair is considered a medical device, that is going to really raise the price of those. Some of those can cost upwards of $50,00.
Just some thoughts.
Susan
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Permalink Reply by Keith Van Houten on
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This is a really emotional and political subject, so I'll refrain from commenting, other than saying that one of my greatest fears as the parent of a child with a serious medical condition is losing my health insurance.
This law will ensure that my family won't be dropped from insurance, excluded from purchasing it, we won't be charged more because of my son's condition, and he can remain on my plan for what is likely to be his lifetime.
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Permalink Reply by Liisa Underwood on
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Those pieces of the bill are definitely key. I have not met anyone who disagrees that we need those measures. Just wish these were separate items.
Keith Van Houten said:This is a really emotional and political subject, so I'll refrain from commenting, other than saying that one of my greatest fears as the parent of a child with a serious medical condition is losing my health insurance.
This law will ensure that my family won't be dropped from insurance, excluded from purchasing it, we won't be charged more because of my son's condition, and he can remain on my plan for what is likely to be his lifetime.
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Permalink Reply by Danelle Dickerson on
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Today, I heard an insurance employee discussing the fact that group policies renew in January. Because of the new legislation and rules for insurance companies, they will have no choice but to raise premiums 300%. Additionally, they are forecasting that all insurance companies will be out of business in approximately 3 years. Now, that's what I'm really concerned about.
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We just received notice from one of our companies (remaining nameless) that we will now be taxed 40% because the employer provided insurance plan is considered a Cadillac plan by this bill. NOW, I understand why they want to requires employers to report the value of health care benefits on employees’ W-2 tax statements. This is SOOO wrong.
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Permalink Reply by Jerry Dallapè on
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I have excellent insurance through work. I don't see why my company should be penalized for providing me with a great insurance plan. Now, I will probably lose it in the not too distant future and be forced into an inferior government product. And hitting us with an extra tax because we dare to have children who need medical devices is just wrong. Under the old system, if we lost our jobs, there was the Medicare/Medicaide system (even with all of its flaws) to back us up. This bill was costly, unnecessary and nothing but a power grab. Unfortunately, I'm not convinced the Republicans can reverse it when they gain power next year, or if they even would if they could.
Liisa Underwood said:We just received notice from one of our companies (remaining nameless) that we will now be taxed 40% because the employer provided insurance plan is considered a Cadillac plan by this bill. NOW, I understand why they want to requires employers to report the value of health care benefits on employees’ W-2 tax statements. This is SOOO wrong.
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Permalink Reply by Michael on
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Welcome to Obama-Care - nobody would believe this was the worst of the worst case scenarios. Now we have to hope the Supreme Court will strike it down as law. This law doesn't help anyone except the chronically poor, indigent and illegal (oops soon to be legal) aliens and those too lazy to work for a living.
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