Access to affordable housing is a challenge facing communities across the country. But the Recovery Act is helping our nation meet that challenge head on by providing states with cash to help them finance low-income housing construction at a time when too many projects would otherwise be stalled. These projects are helping revitalize communities through both the creation of new affordable housing developments and the tens of thousands of jobs being created to build them.

Yesterday, I joined D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, officials from the D.C. office of Housing and Community Development, representatives of Vida Senior Residences – and even some of the building’s future residents – to break ground on an affordable housing development made possible with more than $6.8 million in Recovery Act funding.  When it’s complete, The Vida Senior Residences at Brightwood in Washington, DC will provide 36 affordable apartments for low-income seniors.  And while it’s under construction, this project will create an estimated 55 full-time construction jobs.

As part of the Administration’s Recovery Summer outreach, Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios joined DC Mayor Adrian Fenty to break ground on the Vida Senior Residences at Brightwood 36-unit affordable apartment building for low-income seniors in D.C. financed with more than $6.8 million in Recovery Act funds. Photo Credit: Sandra Salstrom, Treasury Department.

Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law on March 23, the President’s team has worked diligently to implement the new law. As part of this effort, we’ve held countless meetings with individuals and organizations to hear their thoughts and suggestions for how we can best deliver the benefits of reform to the American people. 

One important change in the new law is a provision that prevents insurance companies from discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions. This new provision takes effect on September 23 and will bring welcome relief to parents of children with medical conditions who often were denied access to health insurance.

Since this policy was announced, we have had helpful discussions on how to ensure children with pre-existing conditions have access to care, while not disrupting the insurance marketplace.   Some state insurance commissioners expressed concern that, without an open enrollment period that was widely communicated, people might wait until their children got sick to enroll them in coverage, causing plans’ costs to increase. And we were concerned when last week, some indicated that insurance companies would choose to stop offering policies for children rather than cover kids with pre-existing conditions.

Today, the Administration is releasing new guidance to health insurance plans to help ensure children get the high-quality care they need. The new FAQ document notes that insurance companies may establish an open enrollment period for children with pre-existing conditions and makes clear that the Administration will not hesitate to issue regulations if insurance companies unfairly limit access to insurance for children who need it most.   The document also signals that kids with pre-existing conditions should not be shifted from the Children’s’ Health Insurance Program to the individual market in an attempt to reduce State health care spending and that these policies will apply to health plans that start on or after September 23.

Insurance companies have pledged to conduct a significant consumer education campaign to ensure more Americans and their children know about the coverage options that are available to them. And some of the companies that reportedly planned to stop offering policies for children have reversed course and committed to continuing to provide coverage for the youngest Americans.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association said the “policy will ensure that children get the comprehensive coverage they need,” and pledged to “work with our Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies on outreach efforts to educate consumers about this new provision.” Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida said they were “pleased to announce that it will establish a process to resume the sale of Child Only policies.”  

For too long, parents have been forced to worry about what they would do if their child developed a serious medical condition. Others have found that children born with illnesses were forever ineligible for insurance. Thanks the Affordable Care Act, kids will get the care they need and parents will have one less thing to worry about.

To learn more, read the FAQ document.

Nancy-Ann DeParle is Director of the White House Office of Health Reform

Last month, President Obama awarded Paul McCartney  the annual Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Artists from all the genres and backgrounds paid tribute to the music legend with a concert hosted by the President and First Lady at the White House. Take a break and go behind-the-scenes with the Jonas Brothers as they prepare for and perform the Beatles classic “Drive My Car” for President Obama and Sir Paul.

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The housing industry is of vital importance to our country’s future. It is a key sector of our economy, supporting millions of jobs in construction, manufacturing, real estate, finance, and other industries. Moreover, for many Americans, their home is their largest financial investment.

That is why the Obama Administration is strongly committed to responsibly reforming our nation’s broken system of housing finance, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And that is why it is so important that we get the reforms right.

Work on this issue is well under way, as the Obama Administration continues to develop a comprehensive reform proposal for delivery to Congress by January 2011. Earlier this year, Secretaries Geithner and Donovan testified before Congress, outlining the principles that will guide the Administration’s housing finance reform efforts. In April, the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development issued related questions for public comment, which have received over 300 responses from a broad cross-section of stakeholders. (To view these responses, please visit: here and here.)   

That commitment to public engagement will continue. Today, the Administration is announcing that it will hold on August 17 a Conference on the Future of Housing Finance at the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C.  This event will bring together leading academic experts, consumer and community organizations, industry groups, market participants, and other stakeholders for an open discussion about housing finance reform.

With a Senate vote tomorrow on legislation to undo some of the damage from the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, the President laid out the stakes in no uncertain terms:

A vote to oppose these reforms is nothing less than a vote to allow corporate and special interest takeovers of our elections. It is damaging to our democracy. It is precisely what led a Republican President named Theodore Roosevelt to tackle this issue a century ago.

As the President discussed in his State of the Union address months ago, this decision essentially opened the floodgates for the influence of huge corporations, including foreign-owned corporations, on our elections.  Speaking in the Rose Garden, the President explained what this new limitless flow of undisclosed money will mean:

On Friday, I joined Senator Tom Carper and Representative Mike Castle at the Delaware State Fair in Harrington, DE. We spent the day with 4-H and Future Farmers of America students. We saw the results of their hard work on farming vegetables, baking pastries and pies from scratch, sewing garments and tending to farm animals. The students participating in 4-H, a program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the National Future Farmers of America Organization, showed me first-hand the vital contributions of our nation’s rural communities.

The President is dedicated to promoting and developing the work of rural America. That’s why the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided $53 billion to support the ability of rural communities to gain access to the health care, educational, economic, and infrastructure development resources. To better understand the needs of rural communities, the President asked Cabinet members to visit communities across the nation on a Rural Tour. Over the last year, the Administration has engaged thousands of people in a conversation about how towns, states, and the federal government can work together to help strengthen rural America. In addition to the Delaware State Fair, I have visited remote villages in Alaska and an Indian reservation in Montana.

Following the signing of historic Wall Street Reform legislation, the President lays out his plans to strengthen the middle class, give tax breaks to small businesses that create jobs here, invest in homegrown, clean energy, and cut taxes for working families. The President also contrasts that plan with the agenda outlined by the Republican House Leader that would return America to the policies that created this economic crisis, drastically increase the deficit, and make permanent massive tax breaks for the very wealthiest Americans.

Our latest Recovery-Act-in-Action installment features some exciting new technology, 100 good-paying manufacturing jobs, and the public/private co-investment that is critical to job growth right now.

It’s all taking place in Indianapolis, Indiana, where Allison Transmission is building a new factory to make hybrid systems that go into energy efficient trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles.   The new plant, and the 100 folks Allison expects to put to work in it, was partially financed by a $62.8 million Recovery Act grant from the Department of Energy as part their advanced battery grant program.