Health Reform Bill Summary: The Top 18 Immediate Effects

After months of fierce debate in Washington and around the country and after an intense day of voting on Capitol Hill, the House of Representatives passed a health care reform bill and it's on its way to President Obama's desk.

Once Obama signs the bill into law, as he is expected to do on Tuesday, it will mean an end to the current health care system as we know it.

Pundits on the right and left have been reacting to passage of the legislation, but what does the bill actually mean for the average American?

The Huffington Post has compiled a list of the top 18 immediate effects of the health care bill as well as some that will take effect in the first year of implementation:

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No More Denials For Pre-Existing Conditions

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Health insurers cannot deny children insurance because of pre-existing conditions. A ban on the same discrimination against adults will take effect in 2014.

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Health insurers cannot deny children insurance because of pre-existing conditions. A ban on the same discrimination against adults will take effect in 2014.

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Scribe57 said on 22 Monday 2010 pm31 10:42 pm: No, I think you're fooling yourself. It's whining. You lost. Deal with it. Yes We Can! Reinstate lifetime caps! Yes We Can! Deny children coverage due to pre-existing conditions! Yes We Can! Bring back the Medicare donut hole! In the name of all that is holy, please, PLEASE run on this.

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Comments

[Tomohisa Watanabe]

10:27 PM on 05/14/2010

i have to say that i have not read the bill which supposedly has over 1000 pages in it and is probably not a very enjoyable thing to read. i do know of one family friend who, faced with the prospect of losing her house she worked her whole life to buy, and, being a frugal and responsible person, feeling obligated to pay back the huge medical bill she incurred due to a lack of medical coverage, took a desperate escape from her situation and committed suicide rather than lose everything she worked for. This is just one life which was destroyed by the current health care system in this country and I'm sure there are many more when i hear that many personal bankruptcies are from medical bills. Even though this bill is most likely a huge compromise with the powerful lobbying interests in health insurance and whoever else wanted to get in on this government bail out of a crisis in health care spending, at least there is a discussion about trying to improve this basic necessity that affects everyone in some way. Hopefully this will lead to some improvements in health care availability, preventative care, paying doctors to keep people healthy, not just how many patients they can see in the shortest amount of time and maybe even take the amount of profit one(the rich) can make off of the misery of others(poorer people) out of health care.

[PickAnySideAndBeDoomed]

09:30 PM on 04/25/2010

Sadly, this article is misleading. For starters, it says: "The cut-off age for young adults to continue to be covered by their parents' health insurance rises to the age 27." In another article here on Huffington Post they contradict this blatantly and say the age is 26. Also, my mother's insurance company told me to my face that this policy is NOT immediate. They say it goes into affect sometime around 2013.

[cadawa]

01:59 PM on 04/14/2010

To say that the bill that Obama will end pre-existing conditions is highly misleading.
If an insurer refuses to insure someone because of a pre-exisint condition, they are fined. The fine is $100 a day, far less than it would cost the insurer to provide medical care.
What decision do you think insurers will make?

[News2010]

09:50 PM on 04/02/2010

I keep hearing how people want this bill because they don't want to work, they are lazy, they want freebies or live of others, etc. These comments are so unfounded!!! Their views of how they see the world other than themselves is so obtuse and arrogant, not to mention selfish and greedy! I know many people and small businesses that would like to have buy insurance it they can only afford it or if they can only get insured! Insurance companies do whatever they want with us and many have to choose between paying the mortgage or health insurance. Nobody is taking anything from anybody...most of us have contributed a lifetime in taxes and have benefited very little from it, but the basic social services should be a right and not a luxury and society contributes towards it whether you use it or not. If those people were to lose their insurance because of a disability, I am so sure that those very same people would be the ones making sure that their disability check is in the mail like yesterday! They lack compassion and prefer to enrich an insurance company rather than to help someone that needs our help! Remember..."Today is just somebody but tomorrow could be you and I am sure that you will gladly take the benefits and not question who you might be stealing from or whether you have become a burden to the rest of us or not based on your own standards"

[REGGIE5324]

09:15 PM on 03/29/2010

Im a college student writing a research paper on the effects of the reform bill in the addiction aspect of it. As to what insurance covers as far as rehabs detoxs and the use of preventive medicines such as vivitrol. If anyone has any information or perhaps where I could find some answers it would be deeply appreciated.

[Eilif Osten Aune]

04:17 PM on 03/26/2010

Kill Health Care Bill?

The Health Care Bill is terrible! It will include 32 million Americans: the poor, the sick, those the most at risk with the least amount of resources, the most vulnerable in our society, and even “children” will be covered by this Health Care Reform Bill!

We love our insurance companies! We know that dropping sick people, denying coverage, and pre-conditions for children and adults are just good business practices. We need to preserve the “bottom-line” of the insurance companies! The insurance executives need to have their million dollar bonuses protected!

This Health Care Bill has the audacity to require all Americans to pay their “fair share” of health care cost.

Having insurance is a “Privilege” not a fundamental right of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” We have our health insurance because we “pay for it.” Caring for the poor, the sick, caring for our neighbor, caring for children are just Christian ideals; not what we actually practice!

We all know that the insurance rates are skyrocketing. We all know that the current system is unsustainable. The Congressional Budget Office says the Health Reform Bill will save billions of dollars off of the national deficit we need to stop this nonsense!

We need to obscure the truth and hide the benefits of the Health Reform Bill. We need to play on people’s fears and prejudices. We need to stop President Obama from helping all Americans.!

Written facetiously by Osten Aune

[News2010]

03:47 PM on 04/02/2010

I just love your sarcasm, but you have to wonder if some people might actually think you are really serious and take it literally even though you are saying it is facetiously, some might not a clue what it means, that is the sad part about it! Good job!!

[Annika Rodgers]

10:01 AM on 04/05/2010

Very well done! I can just imagine some people that would read this and think "exactly right", but then feeling just a little uncomfortable about some details.

[sonotrep]

04:57 AM on 04/09/2010

Such a witty post! How about all the US drug companies who are allowed to use foreign subsidiaries to manufacure pills and then the greatest scam of the American public takes place when they "sell" these pills back to yes, you guessed it, THEMSELVES at a HIGHLY INFLATED price. This nifty practice is called "transfer pricing". The result is that Americans pay even higher prices for drugs based on bogus mark ups. On top of the whole scam, Republicans claim they are "protecting competition" when in fact the only competition the drug companies are facing is their own pawn game. The more you research the facts the more tragic they become. How many people have died because they are unable to afford the hyped up price of meds??? Republicans are top down murderers!!!!

[research]

03:58 PM on 03/26/2010

The Founding fathers were into the Enlightenment of the people, which obviously require public education.

". Jefferson believed educating people was a good way to establish an organized society, and felt schools should be paid for by the general public, so less wealthy people could obtain student membership as well.[37]" wiki.

that require at least room and board, and now health care for those working to find enlightenment.

[LickDaCat]

11:27 AM on 03/26/2010

Any congressman or senator that voted for this bill should be tried for treason. After being found guilty, the sentence should be carried out immediately. I think a mass hanging at the National Mall would be appropriate.

After all, it it straight up high treason.

[research]

04:08 PM on 03/26/2010

It's Palin who has committed treason, at least Sedition.

Let's all study the constitution, shall we?

"Section 3 - Treason Note

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted."

"LEVYING WAR, crime. law. The assembling of a body of men for the purpose of effecting by force a treasonable object; and all who perform any part however minute, or however remote from the scene of action,"

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Levying+war

The republican party is conspiring to incite people to assassinate congress people and the president. Republican bankrupt the republic when they rule, and try to destroy it when not. This an organized Republican plan to destroy the republic and replace it with a plutocracy. The original goal of conservatives.

Palin actually put sniper scope sites on democrats she wants to remove.

This is far beyond free speech.

censure Palin then if she continues, arrest her, same for all the right wing insurrectionists.

[PinkOne]

05:35 PM on 04/11/2010

www.sarahpalincitizenarrest.com

i am going code pink on palin!

[News2010]

03:49 PM on 04/02/2010

We should have done that with Bush, Chaney and Rove after we found out they took us to a war based on lies!!!

[Diane B 528]

12:39 AM on 03/26/2010

Hours after President Barack Obama signed historic health care legislation, a potential problem emerged. Administration officials are now scrambling to fix a gap in highly touted benefits for children.

"To ensure that there is no ambiguity on this point, the secretary of HHS is preparing to issue regulations next month making it clear that the term 'pre-existing exclusion' applies to both a child's access to a plan and his or her benefits once he or she is in the plan for all plans newly sold in this country six months from today," HHS spokesman Nick Papas said.

Parents whose kids are turned down by an insurer would still have a fallback under the law, even without Sebelius' fix. They could seek coverage through state high-risk insurance pools slated for a major infusion of federal funds.

The high-risk pools are intended to serve as a backstop until 2014, when insurers no longer would be able to deny coverage to those in frail health. That same year, new insurance markets would open for business, and the government would begin to provide tax credits to help millions of Americans pay premiums.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Gap-in-health-care-laws-apf-4272209396.html?x=0&.v=1

[News2010]

08:50 PM on 04/02/2010

Good job, I am glad you posted that since there are so many misinformed or just those who want to spread lies to discredit this bill!!! What puzzles me is that they post stuff without getting the facts or learning more about it....I can expect that behavior from those that do not want this bill, but there are those who support this bill yet they start posting information that who knows where they are getting it!!! Just amazing!! We seriously need more education in this country!!!

[Kingjames777]

11:33 PM on 04/26/2010

I completely agree. There should be a test to see if you know what is ACTUALLY in a bill etc.. before your are allowed to vote on it. Well put!

[CarlaTimber]

02:53 PM on 03/25/2010

For those of you who live in a state that disagrees with this bill:
Senator Wyden (D-OR) spoke
reminding the Attorney Generals who want to sue the govt. , that there is a provision in the bill
(Provision 1332) that empowers states to create their own approach to healthcare reform
that will work in their state. They have the ability to create their own plan.
Perhaps the AGs arent aware of this provision or choose to ignore it for political purposes,
but you can definately let them know in your state. It could mean that if one state wants a
single-payer plan, they have that option. Provision 1332 is law now.

[mamabee4]

12:16 PM on 03/25/2010

Thank you President Obama!

[Liberty Valence]

12:00 PM on 03/25/2010

Guess what? The USA, contrary to wishful hypocritical, right wing wet dreams about dominance and power, is a complex nation trying to maintain, maintain its place as a civilization. This had to be done. This is probably the least disruptive way to do it. Judging by these reactions, no way would have been the best way.
Politics is still the best way to accomplish things peacefully. If there are people whose reason to exist is to make sure that things don't work, those people will make sure that things do not work. Politics has not gone away. Make sure that things work. Congress is dysfunctional because dysfunctional people send representatives there. Read your own words if you cannot stomach what you see in the mirror.
Suck it up. Get some guts. Stop pretending that you are even looking out for your own, short term interests. You are not. If your angry emotions represent your deepest feelings then you are a shallow mess and no suggestion or help is sufficient to solve your problems.

[koulflo]

09:45 AM on 03/25/2010

with HCR, big government is back?
http://koulflo.wordpress.com/2010/03/25/hcr-big-government-or-public-private-partnership/

[hershobr]

09:44 AM on 03/25/2010

Immediate effects?

Rising costs in business to cover these costs, the gov't going more into debt.

The actual cost of the bill? $618 billion in the red, not $150 billion in the positive. Madoff accounting might go through the CBO, but it doesn't work in the real world.

At least the Crats will get swept in November, then maybe we can get real solutions to healthcare instead of buh sh.. such as increase for college loans in the healthcare bill. Can't fool all the people all the time.

[CarlaTimber]

02:08 PM on 03/25/2010

I doubt the Dems will be swept if you look at the faces of the Tea partiers. That's the Republican base now. To do nothing about healthcare costs would destroy the economy. It's unsustainable.
The Congressional Budget Office-- they're number crunchers. They found this would tackle healthcare costs and substantiated fiscal health to the bill.
They couldn't do that during the Bush years: Two wars (unpaid for) -paid only as a "Supplemental" which had to be voted on EACH year so it was kept off the books. ( 9 billion a month for Iraq alone)
AND two huge tax cuts (unpaid for) AND Medicare Part D (unpaid for).
What did you do to stop the spending train then?! Where was the outcry?! I don't understand all
these death threats and craziness going on. It's very fishy. Opinions are not facts.

[Matt Herren]

03:37 PM on 03/25/2010

But you're not actually doing anything to "healthcare costs" you're just shifting them to government subsidization and forcing taxpayers to cover it. In what way will this actually reduce costs and 'save' anything?

You're just paying for it with a credit card instead of cash... while many of you would happily do so on someone else's credit, under the guise of their 'fair share,' this is just an alternative means of payment. The state of MA has the fastest rate of growth among healthcare costs. Not coincidentally, it also happens to be the only state with a similar policy to the one just enacted.

Removing individuals even further from the actual costs of healthcare and creating a further disconnect from actual prices with only raises costs even further. No major government program has ever come in under budget... in fact Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid far exceeded their projected costs... precisely for these reasons. You may like this for ideological reasons... but saying it is needed as a cost saving measure is a blatant farce. Even a dog knows the difference between being tripped over and being kicked.

[owen6374]

04:53 AM on 03/25/2010

MOST OF THE PEOPLE WORKED HARD FOR THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE AND HATE TO SEE WHAT PEOPLE WANT EVERYTHING GIVEN TO THEM INSTEAD OF WORKING FOR IT.

PEOPLE TODAY DO NOT WANT TO WARK FOR ANYTHING. THEY WANT IT NOW.

[ftforthfoodie]

08:33 AM on 03/25/2010

You just don't get it.

By the way, writing in all caps is really annoying and the emphasis it can normally add is foregone when you write your entire post in it. And learn to spell.

[doesnt drink kool-aid]

09:18 AM on 03/25/2010

you missed their point as you ..belittled them

[Matt Herren]

03:41 PM on 03/25/2010

Being condescending doesn't make you right.

The political Left has long failed to realize that.

[bert70]

12:03 PM on 03/25/2010

Most people work hard for their health insurance, yes, that's true for some people. What about the many people who choose not to buy insurance? You righties all hate welfare, but you condone these people going to the emergency room for healthcare, which is the most costly of healthcare, and "We the People" have to pay for it. You people call for freedoms, is it a good idea to repeel the bill to give the freedoms back to the insurance comp's. to deny you insurance if you get a serious illness, or their freedom to deny a child coverage because they were born with a prexisting condition. And the majority of your teabaggers on Medicare will not get a closed doughnut hole. the prescription drug bill that Bush failed to fund at all. Let alone the Iraq & Afgan. wars, the two tax cuts for the rich, that he also failed to fund. wake up!