Health Care Blog
JudyCare: Focusing on Fighting Cancer, Without Fear of Lifetime Insurance Caps
Posted by on May 22, 2012 at 1:45 PM EDTEd. note: This is cross-posted from HealthCare.gov
Judy Lamb from Colorado is an inspiration. Despite fighting breast cancer that has spread to her bones and liver and undergoing weekly chemotherapy, she has a positive outlook on life.
“I have three children, I’m married, and I cook dinner every night. It’s not really exciting, but it’s a wonderful life. I’m so glad I’m here, because without my treatments I wouldn’t be here,” she says.
She is able to maintain her positive attitude partly because the Affordable Care Act has removed a tremendous burden: the fear that her health plan would stop paying for her treatments.
Learn more about Health CareNational Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease
Posted by on May 17, 2012 at 2:25 PM EDTToday, as many as 5.1 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s. As the baby boomers march past age 65, that number could more than double in just a few decades.
We’ve made considerable progress in the fight against Alzheimer’s and other dementias, but much more needs to be done right away, because people who face the challenges of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s need help now.
The Obama administration has announced an historic $156 million commitment to address what is needed to confront Alzheimer’s disease. The National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease is a roadmap that will help us meet our goal to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. This is a truly national plan, based on a strong partnership with every part of the Alzheimer’s community, including scientists, patient advocates, and people living with the disease.
This plan lays out a blueprint for expanding research in prevention and treatment and getting the most-promising drugs from discovery into clinical trials. We will also figure out ways to move best practices out of the research journals and into exam rooms as soon as possible.
Learn more about Health CareBy the Numbers: $1 Billion
Posted by on May 17, 2012 at 12:55 PM EDT
Thursday is the fourth day of National Women’s Health Week. Women often play a leading role in making medical decisions for their families, but their own health needs are often unmet, which is why President Obama worked to make health care more accessible and affordable for women across the country through his health reform law, the Affordable Care Act.
For example, women who purchase health insurance on the individual market pay an additional $1 billion each year because insurance companies charge them more than men, simply because of their gender. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, health insurers will be prohibited from discriminating against women by charging higher premiums.
President Obama’s health reform law also requires new health insurance plans to cover preventive services such as mammograms, pap smears, and well-woman visits with no co-pay or deductible. Because of this provision in the Affordable Care Act, more than 20.4 million women with private health insurance have received preventive health services at no additional cost.
Learn more about Health Care, WomenNational Women's Health Week by the Numbers: 20.4 Million
Posted by on May 15, 2012 at 1:27 PM EDT
Tuesday is the second day of National Women’s Health Week, and an opportunity for all women to prioritize their health well-being by scheduling annual screening and exams.
President Obama’s health reform law requires that new health insurance plans cover preventive services such as mammograms, pap smears, and well-woman visits with no co-pay or deductible. Because of this provision in the Affordable Care Act, more than 20.4 million women with private health insurance have received preventive health services at no additional cost.
Learn more about Health Care, WomenDon't Forget!
Posted by on May 13, 2012 at 11:46 AM EDTIt's Mother's Day!
As rewarding as being a mom can be, it sure isn't easy. That's part of why the Obama Administration is taking steps to level the playing field for mothers and their families.
To help you show some appreciation for the mom in your life, we've put together two Mother's Day cards. One focuses on important health care reforms and the other on heroic military moms across the country.
Check them out and share them:
From all of us here at the White House, Happy Mother's Day!
Guaranteeing Value for Your Premium Dollars
Posted by on May 11, 2012 at 12:04 PM EDTEd note: this post was originally published on the blog at healthcare.gov
When we pay for health insurance, we want to know that most of what we are paying for is for health care, not advertising, executive bonuses or overhead. It’s pretty simple: we want to get a good value for our premium dollars.
Thanks to a new rule (the “80/20 rule”) in the Affordable Care Act, you can be sure that insurance companies are spending generally at least 80 cents of every dollar you pay in premiums on your health care or activities that improve health care quality. If the insurance company fails to meet this standard, or the “medical loss ratio”, in any year, they have to pay you a rebate.
Insurance companies that didn’t meet the standard for coverage provided in 2011 are required to provide these rebates no later than August 1 of this year, and to make sure you know what you are owed, insurance companies that owe rebates will also send a letter telling you how much you’ll receive. You can see what that letter will look like here. According to early estimates from the Kaiser Family Foundation, insurance companies will provide 15.8 million Americans with $1.3 billion in rebates.
Today, we’re also finalizing a notice for insurance companies to send you if they meet or exceed the standard. If your insurance company is providing fair value for your premium dollars, you should know that too. You’ll be able to see your plan’s medical loss ratio on HealthCare.gov starting this summer.
If you don’t get a rebate, that means your plan may have lowered prices or improved your coverage already. For example, one insurer in West Virginia improved its medical loss ratio by lowering premiums by an average of $2,500 for 4,200 small businesses, cutting their premiums to give consumers welcome cost relief. This is one of the ways the 80/20 rule is bringing value to consumers for their health care dollars.
Learn more about Health Care
From the Press Office
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