Health Insurance Articles
What The New Health Legislation Means For Workers
2011-08-09
Over the last few years, more employers have opted to not provide their employees with health insurance plans. This is even truer of small businesses that simply don't have the budgets or funding available to provide health benefits to their small group of employees. Health insurance rates have been climbing for some time now because of the rising cost to insure each American, the costs associated with medical research and newer procedures. Many people have opted not to obtain health insurance in the hopes that they never have to pay out of pocket for any emergencies because health insurance rates are just too high. But the new health care legislation is set to change all of that and hopefully provide some relief for workers who currently don't have health insurance or who are paying high premiums.
Health insurance rates for workers should decrease, even if not dramatically, through the implementation of the new health care legislation. Parts of the new Affordable Care Act (ACA) that was signed into law in March of 2010 by President Obama have already been implemented. Tax credits have been available to small businesses that provide employer sponsored health insurance to their employees. These tax credits are set to continue for the next few years so that small business owners have a financial incentive to provide health insurance to employees. That means that more workers will be able to not only obtain a policy without qualifying first, but get a plan that is much more affordable than getting one independently.
For those who work for larger businesses that won't receive a tax credit for providing health insurance, there is still some relief in sight. The government wants to streamline the health industry by making billing and administrative processes more efficient, as well having physicians and providers working together. Creating an online database for all patient information will streamline administrative processes as well as billing by having the information readily available to physicians across the country. Affordable Insurance Exchanges will help physicians group together to provide coverage to citizens as well as share patient information and billing so that care can be provided much more efficiently. Providers are also encouraged to work together to provide coverage for their customers.
All of this translates to more health insurance options for workers. Even if your employer doesn't offer insurance or their costs are much too high, plenty of insurance options will be available to choose from. The elimination of coverage denial based on pre-existing conditions will also allow more people to have access to insurance. Workers will be able to obtain low cost health insurance with wide coverage.
