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Higgins Joins House in Delivering Affordable Health Care to Western New Yorkers
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Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) joined his colleagues in the House of Representatives in approving the Affordable Health Care For America Act, landmark legislation that will provide hardworking Western New York families, seniors and students with the promise of quality, affordable health care. Learn more here.
“This momentous action, decades in the making, will improve the health and lives of Western New Yorkers for generations to come,” said Congressman Higgins. “Seniors and children, the insured and uninsured, employers and employees, the sick and the healthy will all benefit from the changes approved today.”
”With this bill people, not profits, are again the priority in health care delivery. Medical bankruptcy, prescription doughnut holes, denials based on preexisting conditions and costly cancer screenings are a thing of the past. Wellness, coordinated care, choice and quality outcomes will now be the standard,” added Higgins.
How this bill helps Western New Yorkers:
Everyone
- No co-pays or deductibles for preventive care;
- No denials or rate increases based on pre-existing conditions, gender or occupation;
- The approximately 380,000 people in Congressman Higgins’ district who receive employer based coverage can keep what they have and will see their coverage improve;
- 20,000 residents living in the district who currently don’t have insurance will now have coverage;
Families
- Provides affordable coverage at group rates through a health insurance exchange. Families of four with an income of up to $88,000 will receive affordability credits to help with the cost of coverage. 176,000 of the 259,791 households in Congressman Higgins’ district would be eligible;
- Ensures families won’t face financial devastation because of high health care costs. In 2008 1,100 families in Congressman Higgins’ district filed for bankruptcy due to health care expenses. This bill caps annual out-of-pocket costs at $5,000 for singles and $10,000 for families and eliminates lifetime limits on coverage;
- Guaranteed oral, vision and hearing benefits for children, benefiting all 153,000 children living in Congressman Higgins’ district;
Seniors
- Closes the prescription drug doughnut hole for seniors in Congressman Higgins’ district;
- Eliminates co-payments for preventive services and provides free wellness care for the 122,000 Medicare beneficiaries living in Congressman Higgins’ district;
- Maintains Medicare Advantage and cuts excess subsidies to insurance companies;
- Prohibits Medicare Advantage plans from charging more than traditional Medicare would for any particular item or service;
- Bans mid-year formulary changes, preventing drug plans from using bait-and-switch tactics after Medicare beneficiaries have committed to enrolling in a plan;
- Reduces barriers to Part D plans offering free generic prescription drugs to enrollees;
- Puts patients first by expanding programs that reward physicians for spending time coordinating care for their patients;
Students
- Allows for a child to stay on their parents’ health care plans until their 27th birthday. This will help to cover the one in three young adults who are uninsured;
- Young people are less likely to be offered coverage through their jobs: 53 percent of those age 19 to 29, compared to 74 percent of those age 30 to 64. The health insurance exchange allows affordable choices in quality coverage by providing young adults a simple and easy way to compare insurance prices;
- Creates a scholarship and loan repayment program for students interested in becoming a doctor, nurse or public health provider;
Small Business Owners
- Businesses with up to 100 employees will be able to join the health insurance exchange, benefiting from group rates and a greater choice of insurers. 15,000 businesses in the district would qualify;
- Businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $40,000 will qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the cost of providing insurance. 13,000 businesses in the district would qualify;
- Provides a rolling 2-year tax credit to assist small employers who want to offer coverage even if they are not required to do so;
- Exempts small businesses with annual payrolls of less than $500,000 from the employer-responsibility requirements. Employer responsibility will phase in gradually as payroll increases from $500,000 to $750,000;
- Creates a new grant program to encourage small employers to develop employee wellness programs;
Cancer Patients
- The bill is supported by the American Cancer Society (ACS) which stated, “the proposed legislation has the potential to take the fight against cancer in this country to a new level;”
- ACS believes that more than 60 percent of all cancer deaths could be avoided. The House bill proposes a significant investment in cancer prevention and early detection by requiring coverage for cancer screenings including mammography, colonoscopy, pap tests as well as coverage for tobacco cessation programs;
- Protects those with a cancer diagnosis from being denied or getting priced out of lifesaving coverage;
- Increases the availability of smart oral chemotherapy drugs for seniors by ending the Part D doughnut hole;
- ACS CEO John Seffrin said, “This legislation represents an exceptional opportunity to advance our mission of reducing suffering and death related to cancer;”
Local Economy
- In 2008, local hospitals and doctors lost $51 million worth of uncompensated care. This bill sees that local hospitals and health care providers are compensated for their work, keeping tens of millions of dollars here in this region that will be reinvested in this community;
- Expands existing loan repayment programs to increase number of nursing faculty at local colleges like D’Youville;
- Strengthens grant programs to improve the physician workforce at institutions like Buffalo General, Millard Fillmore Gates Circle, and ECMC, as well as increasing the number of primary care physicians.
- Provides new funds to support community health centers in Erie and Chautauqua Counties;
Taxpayers
- We currently pay fifty percent more for healthcare in America than any other industrialized nation - $2.5 trillion annually - but, according to the World Health Organization, we’re 37th of 192 countries in terms of overall healthcare quality, 41st in infant mortality, and last of any industrialized nation in terms of preventable deaths;
- The bill is fully paid for and will not add to the national debt. In fact, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will reduce the deficit by $109 billion over the next ten years by slowing the skyrocketing cost of health care;
- The CBO also finds that H.R. 3962 is likely to reduce deficits in the decade following 2019 by up to one-quarter of one percent of Gross Domestic Product.
The Affordable Health Care For America Act is supported by the AARP, American Medical Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Main Street Business Alliance, National Farmers Union and dozens of other organizations.
For detailed information on the health care bill including a summary and timeline for implementation visit Congressman Higgins’ Health Care web page at: http://higgins.house.gov/healthreform/.
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Washington, DC Office
431 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-3306
Fax: 202-226-0347
Erie County Office
Larkin at Exchange 726 Exchange Street Suite 601 Buffalo, NY 14210 Phone: 716-852-3501 Fax: 716-852-3929
Chautauqua County Office
Fenton Building
2 East Second Street
Suite 300
Jamestown, NY 14701
Phone: 716-484-0729
Fax: 716-484-1049
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