April 12, 2010 - David wanted to know how the new
health care overhaul law would impact retiree health care coverage. Sal
asked if Medicare would cover a yearly physical. Tom and Janet get their
Medicare coverage from a private health insurance plan. Could they keep
their doctor?
The questions went to Department of Health and
Human Services officials conducting the second in a series of weekly
"Web chats" on the new health care law. The queries are part of an
avalanche of questions aimed at government officials, physicians and
nonprofit groups as Americans struggle to understand the complexities of
the new law.
In one week, more than 30,000 AARP members have
visited the groups "Health
Care Reform Explained" column and submitted hundreds of
questions. Meanwhile, a new "Health
Reform Central," a Web-based tool created by the consumer
group Families USA, logged 14,000 visitors in eight days.
In the House
of Representatives, a health care hotline has been fielding questions
from members who need help answering constituents' inquiries; traffic is
up as much as 70 percent since the health overhaul bill became law.
Nancy LeaMond, executive vice president of Social
Impact at AARP, said the seniors lobbying group is planning to spend
millions on a multi-year nationwide educational campaign to explain the
new law to its members.
"This will be the biggest educational campaign
weve ever done," said LeaMond. "Our focus will be to get out the
facts .Our members have fiction fatigue. Theres been so much out there
that just wasnt accurate and so our goal is to use every channel we
possibly can" to explain the new law.
No matter which source they turn to, consumers are
asking about every element of the bill. People who dont have health
care coverage want to know how they can enroll in the high-risk pools
that are scheduled to be up and running within 90 days. Parents want
specifics on how they can keep their adult child on their health
insurance plan. Small business owners are asking how they can get the
tax credits to help them afford coverage.
Some people are sending questions to
healthreform.gov, an HHS site where some answers are posted and others
may be discussed during the
weekly Web chats.
"If you have questions, well have answers. If you
arent sure what to believe, well have the facts," HHS secretary
Kathleen Sebelius said in a recent speech at
the National Press Club.
The White House Web site has a
feature - headlined "What will health reform mean to you?" - designed to
answer frequently-asked questions.
On Capitol Hill, many offices have been flooded
with questions about the new health care law; others haven't. The office
of Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., has received thousands of calls. But Rep.
Betsy Markey, D-Colo., has seen a decline in calls in recent weeks.
"It started with people calling to share their
opinion one way or the other," said Ben Marter, a Markey spokesman. "It
has sort of tapered off, now that this bill is a law; people want to
know what this means for them. A first-term member of the House, Markey
was one of the last House Democrats to back the health overhaul plan and
it has become a central issue in her reelection campaign.
Marter said that people want to know how they can
get their children back on their health insurance and how health reform
will affect TRICARE for military families. Small business owners also
want to know how the law will affect their businesses depending on how
many employees they have, Marter said.
Editor's Note: Andrew Villegas and Maggie Mertens contributed to
this report.
Consumer Questions Flood Health Reform Hotlines As
Reform Specifics Continue To Shake-Out
Medicare Rights Center President Joe Baker was a
guest on Minnesota Public Radio's Midmorning with
Kerri Miller on Friday, April 2. Along with guest Gail
Wilensky, Mr. Baker discussed how health reform provisions will affect
people with Medicare. Their discussion covered topics from the phase-out
of the Medicare Part D "doughnut hole" to changes in provider
reimbursements and subsidies to Medicare private plans.
Apr 12, 2010 - Nonprofit and advocacy Web sites,
online "chats" with government officials, and hotlines for lawmakers are
getting barraged with questions about how the health law will affect
Americans,
Kaiser Health
News reports.
"No matter which source they turn to, consumers
are asking about every element of the bill. People who don't have health
care coverage want to know how they can enroll in the high-risk pools
that are scheduled to be up and running within 90 days.
Parents want
specifics on how they can keep their adult child on their health
insurance plan. Small business owners are asking how they can get the
tax credits to help them afford coverage" (Mary Agnes Carey, 4/12).
The Wall Street
Journal: Medicare recipients an active constituency when it
comes to health care can expect changes beginning next year that will
include cost-free access to certain preventive care and more complete
coverage for drugs. "But upper-income participants should prepare for
higher premiums and, in some cases, higher taxes, too." Those higher
costs will also go into effect next year, and some higher-income people
will begin paying new taxes in 2013 (Tergesen, 4/11).
Los Angeles Times: Although
uninsured people will see the biggest changes resulting from the
recently passed health legislation, workers could see some changes as a
result of the new healthcare law." The LA Times offers answers to common
questions from workers who get health insurance through their employer,
including information on premium changes and efforts to insure young
adult children (Levey, 4/11).
Meanwhile, The
Associated Press points out, "The nation may be divided over
the wisdom of President Barack Obama's big new health care law, but it
largely delivers on more than 30 specific promises he made as a
candidate. Americans basically got what the majority voted for when they
elected Obama in 2008, although many people today might not realize
there are costs as well as benefits in the health plan's fine print"
(Alonso-Zaldivar, 4/12).
