August 21, 2012

A recent study found that if Virginia adopts the Medicaid expansion recommended by the Affordable Care Act, an additional 370,000 to 500,000 Virginians would have health insurance. The study, by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, found that the federal government would pick up 92% to 95% of the cost for the first 5 years. The actual additional costs to Virginia run between $500 and $875 million over a 5 year period, which represents only a 1.8 to 3.1 percent change in Medicaid spending to insure 41 to 57 percent more people. For more information see http://www.kff.org/healthreform/8076.cfm

Eight health care benefits for women will now be covered with no co-pays. These benefits include “well-woman” visits, HPV DNA testing, breastfeeding support and domestic violence screening and counseling. Women will get access to these new benefits as health insurance policies renew. For more information see http://hamptonroads.com/2012/08/qa-new-preventive-care-coverage-women

The Washington Post ran an interesting article on why health care costs more in the US than in pretty much every other country. A major finding is that in most other countries, there is an organized group negotiating for lower prices. This is one of the functions that a well-run Health Benefits Exchange can perform. Virginia will be deciding whether to set up a HBE in January and February of next year.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/high-health-care-costs-its-all-in-the-pricing/2012/02/28/gIQAtbhimR_story.html?hpid=z4

For information about the General Assembly, or to find out who your legislators are go to http://legis.virginia.gov/

The federal government has a new online tool to help small businesses (and individuals) find health insurance options. See http://www.healthcare.gov/videos/2011/11/small-business-health-plan-finder.html for more information

In a 2009 study, Families USA, looked at how medical care for the uninsured is provided. The study noted that the uninsured receive over $100 billion in medical care each year. The study found that while the uninsured and charities help, about 1/3 of this bill is passed on to those with insurance. The study found that insured families pay about $1000 more each year to cover the uninsured. The study can be found at www.familiesusa.org/resources/publications/reports/hidden-health-tax.html

When Congress passed health care reform in 2010, they built in a couple years of implementation. The new law will not be fully in effect until January of 2014. At that time the new health insurance exchanges will start operating. See http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/8060.pdf  for a more detailed timeline. 

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