New KVH Issue Brief Outlines Provisions of New Health Reform Law

Jul 27th, 2010

Hundreds of Thousands of Kentuckians Expected to Benefit

Hundreds of thousands of Kentucky families are expected to benefit over the next 10 years from the new federal health reform law. Kentuckians with health insurance will receive enhanced benefits, an estimated 261,000 who are now uninsured will eventually have coverage through Medicaid, and 221,000 Kentucky families will receive tax credits to help purchase insurance.

These findings are included in The New Health Reform Law: What It Means for Kentuckians, an issue brief released today by Kentucky Voices for Health. (Download a full copy of the issue brief here.) The brief was produced to help Kentuckians understand the health reform law. It includes a basic timeline of what will happen when under the new law, frequently asked questions and resources for further information.

“Now that health reform is the law of the land, we are providing this new information resource to help Kentuckians understand what is in the new law and when the various provisions take effect,” said Jodi Mitchell, executive director of Kentucky Voices for Health. “We want to ensure that individuals, families and small businesses know about and take advantage of the benefits of the new law.”

According to the brief, the new law preserves the current public-private system of employer-based coverage while enhancing public programs and private coverage already in place. The brief also provides estimates of the number of Kentuckians who will benefit from the law’s most important provisions over the next decade:

Coverage for pre-existing conditions: The new law prohibits health insurers from denying coverage to the estimated 920,000 Kentuckians with pre-existing conditions (effective September 23, 2010, for children; applies to everyone in 2014).
Medicare improvements: The estimated 129,000 Kentucky Medicare beneficiaries who hit the so-called prescription drug donut hole in 2010 will receive a $250 rebate (checks started to be distributed on June 10, 2010); a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs will take effect in 2011. A typical beneficiary who hits the donut hole will see drug cost savings of more than $700 in 2011 and more than $3,000 in 2020. (Medicare covers the first $2,700 of a beneficiary’s drug costs in a year and does not resume payments until drug costs reach $6,154. The donut hole is the intervening period when seniors must pay the full cost of their prescriptions.)
Coverage for young adults: An estimated 16,800 young adults (up to age 26) in Kentucky will be allowed to remain on their parents’ insurance policies beginning in September 2010.
Support for early retirees: An estimated 63,200 Kentuckians will benefit from an early retiree reinsurance program for retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare.
Tax credits for families: An estimated 221,000 Kentucky families with annual incomes up to $88,000 for a family of four will receive tax credits to buy coverage through the new health insurance exchanges that will be established in 2014 (average tax credit in 2014 will be $5,200).
Tax credits for small business: Tax credits for employer-paid health premiums will be available to an estimated 51,500 small businesses in Kentucky beginning in 2010 (tax credit goes up to a maximum of 50 percent of premiums paid in 2014).
Coverage of the uninsured: Beginning in 2014, Medicaid will be expanded to cover an estimated 261,000 Kentuckians—approximately 40 percent of Kentucky’s uninsured population—with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level (currently $29,326/year for a family of four) The federal government will pick up 100 percent of the state’s expansion costs until 2017.

“If you want to know what health reform really does, how it will affect you and your neighbors, or where to get more information, you should check out this new brief,” said KVH Co-Chair Rich Seckel.

“Kentucky, like many states, has worked for years to find ways to expand health coverage for the 600,000 Kentuckians who are uninsured,” said Kentucky Voices for Health Co-Chair Sheila Schuster, PhD. “This new law provides exciting opportunities to help individuals, families and small businesses get and keep health coverage.”

Kentucky Voices for Health is a broad coalition of nearly 100 organizations working to improve Kentuckians’ health and health care coverage. The coalition’s leadership team is composed of representatives from AARP Kentucky, Advocacy Action Network, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Catholic Conference of Kentucky, Covering Kentucky Kids and Families, Kentucky Council of Churches, Kentucky Equal Justice Center, the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, and Kentucky Youth Advocates. Kentucky Voices for Health receives grant funding from the Public Welfare Foundation through the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

KentuckyVoices for Health: Building a healthy Kentucky together.

We’re a coalition of concerned Kentuckians who believe that the best health care solutions are found when everyone works together to build them. Right now, families and businesses in every county are facing rising costs, and too many of us go without needed health care. Healthy families create healthy economies. And a healthy Kentucky economy is something we all want. So we’re working step by step to build a healthier Kentucky for our families, our children and our grandchildren.

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