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WASHINGTON - Congressman Edolphus “Ed” Towns (NY-10) today marked 90 days since President Obama signed historic health reform legislation into law to lower health care costs and provide all Americans with the choice of quality health care. Earlier today, President Obama announced a new Affordable Care Act Patient’s Bill of Rights to expand on and enact the consumer protections in the new law.
“Families in Brooklyn are already beginning to see the benefits of health care reform,” said Rep. Towns. “With today’s announcement of a new Patient’s Bill of Rights, we are doing even more to protect Americans’ access to coverage.”
Americans are beginning to see the benefits of health reform. Seniors who are affected by the Medicare prescription drug ‘donut hole’ coverage gap are receiving checks to lower their costs, 4 million small businesses have received notice that they are eligible for a health care tax credit potentially worth tens of thousands of dollars to help them cover their employees, young adults are starting to be allowed to stay on their parents’ insurance, insurance companies have stopped their practice of rescission – or dropping people’s coverage when they need it most, and some outrageous premium hikes have been reversed.
The regulations that President Obama is introducing today will implement new Patient’s Bill of Rights protections including:
• Protecting your choice of doctors
• Removing insurance company barriers to life-saving emergency department services
• Prohibiting insurance plans from denying coverage or limiting benefits for children with pre-existing conditions
• Banning insurance companies from arbitrarily dropping people who get sick and need coverage most
• Prohibiting insurance plans from placing lifetime limits on coverage
• Restricting the annual dollar limits on coverage by insurance plans
“Health reform is about standing up for families and small businesses, and putting Brooklynites in charge of their health care,” added Rep. Towns.
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