American Heart
Association CEO Sees Health Reform as Significant for Heart, Stroke
Patients
How will older Americans on Medicare be affected by health care reform? Video
from American Heart Association
AHA features video
targeting senior citizens on Medicare with cardiovascular disease
Sept. 23, 2010
Some of the key provisions of the health care bill the Affordable Care
Act become effective today and the president of the American Heart
Association, Nancy Brown, sees immediate and significant benefits in
insurance coverage for heart disease and stroke patients. AHA has
Website helping explain the benefits, including a video and other
information for senior citizens on Medicare.
Countless heart
disease and stroke patients and their families will immediately benefit
from the important insurance reforms that take effect on September 23,
said Brown.
Seniors urged to
review their health and drug plan coverage for any changes their plans
may be making for 2010 before the annual enrollment begins November 15
National Council on Aging launches educational
campaign after finding even among older adults who considered themselves
familiar with the new law, correct answers were 'few and far between'
For older people: expanded Medicaid, coordinated care
for Medicare-Medicaid patients, help for employers to insure early
retirees, FDA can approve cheaper drugs
Among them, the
ban on lifetime and unreasonable annual limits on care; the ban on
denying coverage for children with pre-existing conditions; protections
against termination of coverage when individuals get sick; enhanced
availability of preventive services with no cost-sharing; and coverage
for young adults up to age 26.
In addition,
the launch of the new Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans is
providing an indelible safety net to the thousands of Americans with
pre-existing conditions who were previously denied coverage.
The American
Heart Association welcomes this important milestone and has recently
launched a series of online videos to help educate Americans about the
new law and these health consumer and patient protections that will help
them access essential health services without the risk of financial
hardship or personal bankruptcy.
The video
vignettes feature heart disease and stroke patients asking questions of
health care experts some of the most common questions about the law.
These videos can be found on our health care reform website,
www.HeartsforHealthcare.org.
The recently
released sobering data from the U.S. Census that an additional 4.4
million Americans lost their insurance coverage last year reminded us
all that our health system was unsustainable and that enactment of
reform was necessary.
These early
consumer protections and insurance reforms provide important relief for
families nationwide. The association remains committed to working with
Congress, the Administration and others to implement the Affordable Care
Act and ensure that it fulfills the promise of accessible, affordable
care to heart disease and stroke patients.
Medicare
Beneficiaries with Cardiovascular Disease
American Heart
Association
Health reform is
not designed to address every concern with the Medicare program, but the
new reform law makes several changes that improve benefits and reduce
the burden on individuals with heart disease or stroke.
The new law also
does not cut Medicare benefits or raise costs for beneficiaries. The
cuts in Medicare that are made are designed to reduce waste and curb
overpayments and will strengthen the long-term financial health of the
program. Specific changes that will help patients with cardiovascular
disease include:
● Elimination
over time of the Medicare prescription drug doughnut hole for the more
than 8 million seniors that face a gap in drug coverage. Seniors facing
a drug coverage gap this year will receive a $250 rebate.
● More
affordable generic drugs and cutting-edge biologic drugs.
● First-dollar
coverage of clinical preventive services, beginning January 1, 2011.
● Coverage for
a new annual, individually-tailored wellness exam in Medicare, beginning
next year (January 1, 2011).
● Innovations
in chronic disease management (for conditions such as heart disease,
diabetes, and cancer) that can help seniors stay healthier, longer,
including better care after a hospital discharge.
● Strong
medical safety measures aimed at reducing medical errors and
hospital-acquired infections that can often be more deadly than the
disease that caused the initial hospitalization.
