Breaking News: At 10:30 AM EDT, the US Supreme Court has handed down its decision about the Health Care Reform Act. To put it simply, the individual mandate, which was one of the biggest sticking points for many of the congress-critters (especially Republicans), has been upheld as constitutional under the tax code argument (meaning, the penalty for not having insurance is a "tax") by a 5-4 margin. Essentially, the law is being upheld and will go into effect in 2014.
Read more about it HERE.
There are so many provisions beyond the individual mandate which will really benefit PWD. Together these provisions mean we have less chance of being denied or charged high premiums, just for being diabetic. Also insurance companies must spend at least 80% of premiums on patient care. The insurance exchanges should mean better rates for those who are self employed or who work for small companies. For those who get Medicare the doughnut hole partial fix remains in place
The part that was struck down was the expansion of Medicaid to take care of those who work but don't make enough to afford insurance. The number of people who were to be covered under this provision is 17 million. PWD who are in this group may continue to get the short end of the stick. This actually undermines the individual mandate and these folks needs will have to be addressed in some way.
Yeah, but with the feds kicking in 90% of the money to expand Medicaid and most people paying into the system anyway, there is strong incentive for states not to shaft their population out of the expansion while getting stuck with the bill.
At least, that's how I read it.