statement: Thesis In 2010 The United States Government passed what is known as the
Health Care Reform bill, making an already complicated life for disabled Americans
more complicated.
Under the new Healthcare Reform Bill, insurance companies can no longer impose
restrictions to customers due to pre-existing conditions. Now Americans will be forced to
buy a Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan or PCIP with the cost varying depending
the age and state for which is applied. On top of this, these policies carry a yearly
deductible ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. Since the deductible has been put in place,
the disabled have to worry about things like co-payments to doctors at the time of visit.
Making a limited income even more limited due to the purchasing of insurance. Though,
yearly out of pocket expenses cannot exceed $5,950. Disabled Americans have a hard
enough time developing an income to cover daily expenses, now they have one more
expense they have to worry about. Adding to the sometimes burden of being
handicapped. Since this is not fully imposed until 2014, they still get coverage from
there disability Medicaid. Once the switch over happens they will now have to find new
doctors that are in the network of their plan.
With the new bill, insurance companies are required to cover all essential services. The
problem with that is: What are essential services? They from vary person to person.
Healthy individuals are going to have similar essential services, but a disabled persons
essential services will differ depending on the disability. Many disabled individuals
require specific medical devices in order to function. With the verbiage of the new bill,
insurance companies now have a loophole to hide behind. Allowing them to pick and
choose which kinds of devices are essential. One person might need a wheelchair while
another needs a feeding tube. One would think both are essential depending on the
condition of the person. Now, some devices will have to be covered by the individual
because they are not deemed essential.
Until the entire bill becomes active, this will not be until 2018. Disabled Americans will
still have to be covered under the Medicaid program. But this new bill gives lower
income people without children the opportunity to receive the same Medicaid benefits.
With an already struggling program due to a lack in funds, the government decides to
stretch the funds out further. This causes doctors and other medical facilities to not
accept government insurance because they know the payment will be small. Doctors
like many Americans want to be paid for services rendered. Slowly more and more
doctors are not accepting patients who have Medicaid, greatly hurting the disabled
community who need specialized care.