Federal health care reform

Where We Stand

The New Health Reform Law:  What it Means for KentuckiansImage for New Health Reform Law Cover
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, signed into law on March 23, 2010, will help Kentuckians from all walks of life—young and old, low and middle-income, working and unemployed—to get and keep affordable health insurance while putting safeguards in place to improve quality and contain costs.  This issue brief is intended to help Kentuckians understand the new law. It provides a basic timeline of what will happen under the reforms, describes the impact on Kentucky, presents questions and answers about the new reforms, and offers sources of additional information.  Click here to access the brief.
 
Click here to access the Health Reform Timeline.

Federal Health Reform Links

HHS Consumer Focused Health Care Website www.HealthCare.gov

Questions and Answers on Enrollment of Children Under 19 Under the New Policy That Prohibits Pre-Existing Condition Exclusions

FamiliesUSA - Health Reform Central: Families USA is a national nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans. Working at the national, state, and community levels, we have earned a national reputation as an effective voice for health care consumers for 25 years.

Regulations and Opportunities for Comment on Health Reform Implementation (Families USA)

The Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (OCIIO) recently released numerous regulations and requests for comment. It's critical for state advocates to have a voice in federal rulemaking, so we've listed these opportunities for you below. For more information on each individual regulation, click on the link or go to www.regulations.gov. 

Planning and Establishment of State-Level Exchanges (Deadline: October 4)

Health Reform: New Opportunities for Kentucky (Families USA)

What Does Health Reform Mean to KY (Families USA)

Community Catalyst - Making Health Reform a Reality:  State consumer advocates will play a critical role in ensuring the success of national health care reform. Community Catalyst will support advocates’ efforts to ensure the law is implemented effectively, and that consumer interests continue to be represented when new programs are established and new rules and guidelines are set.

Kaiser Family Foundation has prepared a timeline detailing when specific provisions of the legislation are scheduled to take effect.

In addition, the Foundation has issued several other new and updated resources that explain key elements of the new law. These include:

* A summary of health coverage provisions in the new health reform law as amended by the House-passed Health Care and Educational Reconciliation Act. (An existing summary examines the law's coverage provisions, without the modifications.)

* An interactive calculator that helps illustrate the financial assistance that people would be eligible for, based on their income, if they do not have employer coverage and are not eligible for Medicaid or Medicare and instead purchase coverage on their own through an exchange.


Kaiser Health News: The Kaiser Family Foundation is a leading health policy organization that also operates statehealthfacts.org- one of the most comprehensive health data sites in the country. The health news site provides daily health policy reports and tracks the latest developments in federal health reform.

National Council of State Legislatures: The NCSL is the national organization that serves the 50 state legislatures and their site is chocked full of great information. This is a link to their federal health reform page.

National Governors Association - Health Reform Implementation Resource Center:  The NGA is the collective voice of the nation's Governors.   States play a significant role in health reform implementation as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law on March 23, 2010, which includes a range of state requirements and options.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: The health reform page of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, another leading national organization that conducts research and provides grant funding for health reform activities.


Expanding Health Coverage in Kentucky: Why It Matters

This Kentucky Voices for Health issues brief provides highlights of recent research that clearly illustrates why expanding health coverage matters to Kentucky. Click hereto review the brief. Issued 9/9/09

Find Insurance that is Available to You, Your Family, or Your Small Business



View Today's Headlines from Kaiser Health News


FACTOIDS

Uninsured Kentuckians are older, poorer, and more likely to work part-time than the average American who has no health coverage.

The vast majority (83%) of uninsured Kentuckians are low-income workers whose jobs generally do not provide coverage.

Kentuckians without health insurance are three times more likely to skip going to a doctor or needed medical treatment than insured Kentuckians.

Uninsured Kentuckians are more than twice as likely as those with insurance to report having problems paying a medical bill, being contacted by a collection agency about medical bills, going without basic necessities due to medical bills, and exhausting savings to pay medical bills.

One in three Kentuckians (34%), receives health coverage from a publicly funded source, such as Medicaid, Medicare, or the Kentucky Employees Health Plan, which covers all local school district employees and active and retired state employees.

About half of Kentucky’s population (48%) obtains health coverage from private employers.

It is estimated that 57.9% of all private employers in Kentucky provide health coverage to their employees, which is slightly better than the national average of 55.8%. However, only 42% of small employers in Kentucky (employing 50 or fewer employees) offer coverage.

State researchers who estimated the cost of providing coverage to the uninsured in 2004 concluded that the benefits to society outweigh the additional costs by as much as $871 million annually.

Nine of 10 Kentuckians (91%) surveyed in the 2008 Kentucky Health Issues Poll favored providing access to affordable, quality health care to all Americans.