Spiraling health care costs make it increasingly difficult for employers to maintain health insurance coverage for employees and retirees. The new federal health reform law includes several new programs and approaches designed to make coverage more affordable and support employer-sponsored insurance. One example is the new Early Retiree Reinsurance Program, a temporary program which will help employers maintain coverage for early retirees until coverage expansions and health insurance exchange begin in 2014.
Yesterday, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department released the following information on the first round of Texas employers that are taking part in the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program. read more…
In this Issue…
Implementation Road Show
Update on Health Reform Implementation
- Consumer Assistance Grants
- New Pre-Existing Condition Plan
- Update on Health Insurance Exchanges
- Consumer Appeal Rights
- Support for Health Reform Growing
Resources
- From the Kaiser Family Foundation
- State Legislator’s Checklist for Health Reform Implementation
- Small Employer Tax Credits
- Families USA’s “Virtual Patient”
- New Resources on Health Insurance Exchanges
read more…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JULY 1, 2010
Contact:
Brian Stephens 512-320-0222, ext. 112
Stacey Pogue 512-320-0222, ext. 117
Starting Today Texans With Pre-existing Conditions Have New Access to Quality, More Affordable Health Coverage
Applications available on new consumer web site featuring full range of insurance options for Texans
(AUSTIN, Texas)— An important reform of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act launched today when Texans who have been without health coverage for at least six months and who have been denied coverage because of pre-existing health now have access to more affordable, quality coverage. They will receive it through a new Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
read more…
In this issue…
Implementation Road Show
Update on Health Reform Implementation
- Applications for the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Program (PCIP) start today!
- Federal Government Launches www.healthcare.gov
- Early Retiree Reinsurance Program
- Patient’s Bill of Rights
- Prevention and Public Health Fund
Resources
- Analysis of the PPACA by the National Health Law Program
- New Health Reform Implementation Guides
read more…
In this issue…
Implementation Road Show
Update on Health Reform Implementation
- First Medicare Prescription Drug “Donut Hole” Cost Reductions Start
- New KFF Report Provides State-Level Data on Coverage Gains and Costs of the Medicaid Expansion in Health Reform
- New Texas Comptroller’s Report on Health Reform Economic Implications
- Rate Review Grants Announced
Resources
- No, you will not be taxed for your employer’s contribution to your health plan (TVHR Blog)
- Help for Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions (Families U.S.A.)
- Impact of programs like The Daily Show and the Colbert Report on health reform debate (Drew Altman’s Pulling It Together)
- Health Reform Implementation Resources from the Democratic Policy Committee
read more…
Check out which Texas towns Texas Voice for Health Reform will be visiting in the next few weeks!
(click on the city for more details)
Check out the calendar for all of our events. Don’t see your city listed? Contact Anne Dunkelberg, dunkelberg@cppp.org, if you’d like to organize a health care implementation forum in your community.
Since the complete fabrication of “death panels” this summer, we’ve seen a continual flow of misinformation and downright lies about what’s in the health reform law. A lie making the email rounds now says that people will have to start paying income taxes on their employer’s contribution to their job-based health insurance. It’s just not true. Here are the facts.
- The health reform law requires employers to include employer-paid health insurance to workers’ W-2 forms for information only. The purpose of this change is to help people get a better understanding of the full cost of their health insurance benefits. Typically, employees pay part of the cost of insurance. On average in Texas, employers cover 68% of premiums for family coverage and employees pick up the other 32%.
- The value of the employer’s health insurance contribution printed on the W-2 will not be counted as taxable income for workers. Health reform does not make you pay income tax on your employer’s contribution toward your health insurance.
Want the complete story? FactCheck.org exposes the truth about this myth.
CPPP's Anne Dunkelberg and Stacey Pogue explain the provisions in the new health care law
CPPP’s Texas Voice for Health Reform team is traveling across the state to help Texans learn about the new health reform law. We know from polling that many Americans still know little about the law, and that support for the new law is high when people learn about what reform will do.
Beyond that, we can help Texans prepare to make the most of health reform, inform them about the role our state government will play in shaping access to insurance, and let them know how to get involved in making sure Texas does the best possible job of implementing health reform.
Last week we kicked off the tour with a presentation in Fort Worth, co-hosted by Tarrant County Public Health, United Way of Tarrant County, Area Agency on Aging of Tarrant County, and the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Tarrant County. View our Power Point presentation to see the information that our team presented.
Check our calendar to see when we’re coming to your community. Don’t see an event in your area? Contact dunkelberg@cppp.org to organize one! Check out photos from the Fort Worth event, courtesy of Al Roy of Tarrant County Public Health
In this issue…
Action
- Be the Face of Health Reform
- Texas Voice for Health Reform is hitting the road
Update on Health Reform Implementation
- Young adults can now stay on parents’ plan until age 26
- Consumer principles and recommendations on health reform implementation
- CPPP Comments on two new accountability measures in health care law
Resources
- StateHealthFacts.org goes mobile
- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ new series on health reform
read more…
Texas Voice for Health Reform Update
May 3, 2010
In this issue…
Action
- Conference Call with Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott
- Sign-On Letter for Young Adult Coverage
Update on Health Reform Implementation
- New High-Risk Pools
- Texas House hearing on health reform
- Insurers Agree to Stop Dropping Sick People from Coverage Early
- Request for Comments Related to Rate Review and Medical Loss Ratios
- Sunset Commission Review of the Department of Insurance
- Health Reform Implementation Road Show
- Grassroots Groups Poised to Ensure Effective, Efficient Implementation of New Health Care Reform Law in Texas
Resources
- Health Reform GPS
- 3 Steps to the Small Business Health Insurance Tax Credit
- New Implementation Resources from Families U.S.A.
- New Resources from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
read more…
