House of Representatives Passes Health Reform Legislation some of which affect PD
Ray
Rayilyn Brown
Past Director AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
From: Diane Wyshak
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 8:59 AM
To: ray ; Dr. Kong ; don reed
Subject: Fw: House of Representatives Passes Health Reform Legislation
----- Original Message -----
From: Parkinson's Action Network
To: Diane Wyshak
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 9:37 AM
Subject: House of Representatives Passes Health Reform Legislation
House of Representatives Passes Health Reform Legislation
Health Care Reform Update More Info
Sunday, March 21, 2010, the House of Representatives approved historic health care reform legislation. The House passed both the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was passed by the Senate in December, and the Reconciliation Act of 2010, which includes changes to the Senate-passed bill.
The heath care overhaul package is a complex bill that will impact all Americans. There are several provisions that are of interest to the Parkinson's disease community, including:
a.. Creating a Cures Acceleration Network at the National Institutes of Health, supporting translational research in the hopes of more quickly moving research from the lab into new drugs and therapies available to patients. For quite some time, PAN has focused on this fundamental issue and we are excited to see a renewed focus on accelerating therapies and drugs for Parkinson's and many other diseases;
b.. Extending the Medicare Therapy Caps exceptions process until December 31, 2010 for medically necessary outpatient occupational, physical, and speech therapy. Learn more.
c.. Eliminating lifetime caps on benefits for all insurance plans 6 months after enactment of the bill;
d.. Eliminating annual caps on benefits for individual and group plans in 2014;
e.. Closing the Medicare Part D donut hole by 2020, and providing a $250 rebate for all Medicare Part D enrollees who enter the donut hole in 2010;
f.. Prohibiting insurers from establishing eligibility rules based on health status, medical condition (mental or physical illness), claims experience, receipt of healthcare, medical history, genetic information, evidence of insurability, disability, etc.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will now go to the White House for signature by the President while the Reconciliation Act of 2010 still needs to go to the Senate for approval. We will keep you updated as Congress finishes its work on health reform.
For an interesting analysis of the impact of Health Reform district-by-district, visit the House Energy & Commerce Web site.
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