Importance of Healthcare for Children

Health care insurance is so important for our children. Well-child exams ensure they are developing on schedule and properly immunized. 32% of children without health insurance had no usual source of care in 2007. Uninsured children were also six times more likely to go without needed medical care because they could not afford it. There is a direct connection between health insurance and educational achievement. Uninsured children lose 30% more school days than insured children, resulting in lower academic performance.Currently only 68% of Virginia’s children have private health insurance. Another 8% have military coverage. For more information on health care for children click the provided link below:http://www.havcare.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=gwHtQW3tDvw%3d&tabid=928&mid=2150

Health care for Parents

Health care insurance is important for parents because parents need to remain well and productive so they can effectively raise their children. A study by the Institute of Medicine found that working age Americans without health insurance are more likely to receive too little medical care and receive it too late; and they are more likely to be sicker and die sooner.Parents with health care coverage are more likely to make sure their children obtain preventive and wellness services. Many of Virginia's working low income parents do not have health care insurance. In fact 44% of working, low-income adults in Virginia are uninsured. For more information about health care for parents visit the click provided below:http://www.havcare.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=AnLzzly8efM%3d&tabid=928&mid=2150

Affordable Health Care for America Act Promotes Competition

Insurance reforms and Health Insurance Exchange will promote healthy competition in the market. Affordable Health Care for America Act: · Implements insurance reforms and standardized benefit packages that will require insurers to compete on the basis of price and quality, not on the basis of the medical underwriting of sicker patients. · Establishes the Exchange, a transparent marketplace that replaces today’s dysfunctional small group and individual market, to lower administrative costs and provide incentives to insurers to maintain lower premiums in order to attract millions of Exchange enrollees.· Injects further competitive pressure into the Exchange by adding a public health insurance option in many markets that have little competition. · The public option will be a low cost, transparent insurance option that can exert price pressure on all other plans in the Exchange.

Strengthening Primary Care

Primary care providers can provide lower-cost and higher-quality care for many ailments. Affordable Health Care for America:· Improves payments for family doctors and other primary care providers· Increase training of primary care doctors· Expands Community Health Centers.· Encourages physician training outside the hospital, where most primary care is delivered.

Health Care Reform: Prevention & Wellness Programs

Benjamin Franklin was right- “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Prevention and wellness programs will help Americans live longer, healthier lives, and help reduce the need for more costly treatments of health conditions later in life. Affordable Health Care for America Act:· Eliminates patient co-pays for preventive services in Medicare, Medicaid, and private plan· Creates community-based programs that deliver prevention and wellness services· Creates a new grant program to encourage small employers to develop employee wellness programs· Invests in the science of prevention so that physicians know which preventive treatments work best

Improving Accuracy & Eliminating Waste

In trying to get health care costs under control, it’s important that we know what we-re paying for. That means cracking down on waste, fraud, abuse, and making sure that payments are made accurately and for the right services and coverage. Affordable Health Care for America Act:· Improves screening and requires providers and suppliers to adopt compliance programs as a condition of participating in Medicare and Medicaid· Increase funding for the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Fund to fight Medicare and Medicaid fraud· Eliminates wasteful overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans that increase private plan profits, not patient care· Improves payment accuracy for numerous other providers, following recommendations by the non-partisan Medicare Payment Advisory Commission· Requires drug and device companies to disclose their payments to physicians to reduce excessive utilization of services

More Peace of Mind to put You at Ease

Rate review to prevent insurers from price gouging. Discourages excessive price increases by insurance companies through review and disclosure of insurance rate increases. (2010)Allows individuals to keep their COBRA coverage until the Exchange is up and running. (2010)Immediate help for the uninsured. Creates a fund to finance an immediate, temporary insurance program for those who are uninsurable because of pre-existing conditions. (2010)Provides for a 50% discount on brand-name drugs in the Part D donut hole, and immediately shrinks the size of the donut hole $500 in 2010.