The President's Weekly Address: Health Reform's Benefits in 2010

From the White House blog:

The President discusses the benefits of health reform that Americans will receive in the first year, and how reform will help build a new foundation for American families.

This is some of the most important parts of what he is saying that needs to be repeated I think, over and over... This is what starts no matter which bill is signed no matter what happens.. and it is important we see and understand these things.. This is REFORM!

But what every American should know is that once I sign health insurance reform into law, there are dozens of protections and benefits that will take effect this year.

Uninsured Americans with a pre-existing illness or condition will finally be able to purchase coverage they can afford.

Children with pre-existing conditions will no longer be refused coverage, and young adults will be able to stay on their parents’ policy until they’re 26 or 27 years old.

Small business owners who can’t afford to cover their employees will be immediately offered tax credits to purchase coverage.

Early retirees who receive coverage from their employers will see their coverage protected and their premiums go down.

Seniors who fall into the coverage gap known as the donut hole will receive discounts of up to 50 percent on their prescriptions as we begin to close that gap altogether.

And every patient’s choice of doctor will be protected, along with access to emergency care.

Here’s what else will happen within the first year. Insurance plans will be required to offer free preventive care to their customers – so that we can start catching preventable illnesses and diseases on the front end. They’ll no longer be allowed to impose restrictive annual limits on the amount of coverage you receive or lifetime limits on the amount of benefits you receive. They’ll be prohibited from dropping your coverage when you get sick and need it most. And there will be a new, independent appeals process for anyone who feels they were unfairly denied a claim by their insurance company.

In short, once I sign health insurance reform into law, doctors and patients will have more control over their health care decisions, and insurance company bureaucrats will have less. All told, these changes represent the most sweeping reforms and toughest restrictions on insurance companies that this country has ever known. That’s how we’ll make 2010 a healthier and more secure year for every American – for those who have health insurance, and those who don’t.

Those are just the things that go into effect this year.. as soon as they can be implemented after the President signs the bill into law. Why are these not good things?

It does almost everything we have stated we wanted. Lowers costs, insures the uninsured and covers the people with pre-existing conditions. I think this is a win win for us all. No it may not have everything, but it has the big parts of it.. and it is sure something that makes a HUGE step in the right direction to getting what everyone says they want.

So, lets support this, get it done and then move on to the next step. Can we all agree on that?