Myths were dispelled and facts became clearer about health care reform in a program held Thursday in the West Townhouse Community Room.
The program, sponsored by the Kansas Health Consumer Coalition (KHCC) and organized by Thrive Allen County, focused on the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The speaker was Sheldon Weisgrau, the director of the Health Reform Resource Project out of Topeka.
Weisgrau said the goal of his project is to inform and educate Kansans on their healthcare. He said as people become more informed, they can take better advantage of the benefits and options they are given through the new healthcare act.
“We (the United States) have by far the most expensive health care in the entire world,” Weisgrau said. “We need to get what we pay for.”
Weisgrau said his goal is not to promote President Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act or to refute its policies, but to give an objective perspective on what sort of options Kansans can take advantage of. He said U.S. healthcare deals with some major issues including: healthcare access, inconsistent health service quality, lack of recommended care and the overall cost of American healthcare.
Of the 50 million people uninsured in the United States, more than 365,000 of those live in Kansas. This number represents 13 percent of the state’s population. For Allen County, 15 percent of its residents are uninsured, which Weisgrau said was better than many other counties in the state.
According to a report provided by the KHCC, being uninsured can be costly to a citizen and the government as well. Those without insurance are less likely to receive
*preventative and prenatal care;
* to be hospitalized for preventable reasons; and
* to be more likely to have an overall higher likelihood of early death.
The report estimates that 20,000-50,000 people died in 2011 due to a lack of proper insurance.
Weisgrau said the Affordable Care Act is outlined in over 900 pages of documentation, and its goal is to help more people receive proper insurance. Under the law, the government now requires insurance companies to provide standardized, easy-to-read outlines of their policies to help people decide which policy is right for them. Also, the law requires that insurance companies cannot exclude insurance for children and adults with pre-existing medical conditions — a major problem for many in the U.S.
Weisgrau said the act will also expand to include coverage for more people under Medicaid, stipulating that people who have an income 138 percent or lower than the federal poverty level are eligible to receive Medicaid.
The aspect of Obamacare that Weisgrau said is most unpopular with critics of the law is the “individual mandate” reform. This section requires that every citizen have health insurance. He said the reason for this mandate, is to create profit for the insurance companies and reduce high costs.
With elections coming up on Nov. 6, the reform can change quickly, and he said people need to be informed about what those changes can bring.
“The election is really going to determine where this law goes and what it is going to do,” Weisgrau said.
Paul Sorenson, an attendee of the program, said he appreciates the efforts of the KHCC and Thrive Allen County.
“Everybody is looking for information,” Sorenson said. “It helps to know that they are not trying to sell anything.”
Sorenson said while Obamacare will not change much of his healthcare as a veteran, he believes it is important to know how the healthcare laws and reforms will affect everyone. He said the information that Thrive provides can be extremely valuable.
Weisgrau said it is important for people to realize that our healthcare system is not the best in the world. He said the government is doing its best to try and build upon the existing system, which can create some complications overall.
The report states, under the act, the government will spend over $1 trillion on the healthcare reform by 2019. Weisgrau said if Gov. Mitt Romney were elected president in November, he has stated that he will seek to repeal the act.
For more information about the Affordable Care Act and Thursday night’s presentation, visit the KHCC website at kshealthconsumer.com or call the Health Reform Research Project at (785)-408-8008.
Program looks to clarify federal healthcare reform
