The Logan Daily News - Sen. Brown Discusses Proposal to Address Health Care Costs

News Article

By Katherine Hibbard

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has revealed a new proposal designed to help reduce the cost of health care and give Ohio residents a wider range of choices when choosing quality affordable health insurance plans.

On Wednesday, he discussed at length a report that was released by Families USA that outlined how a standardized health plan could the cost of care for those who are currently paying significant out-of-pocket costs and meeting their deductibles for care before their coverage actually takes effect.

Pediatric Urologist Dr. Donald Nguyen, of Dayton, was also on hand to discuss how healthcare law has evolved to make care more readily available to citizens, and increasing the number of Affordable Care Act plans can improve access even further.

"High deductible plans have become more than just skin in the game," Dr. Nguyen said. "They are skin, flesh, and bone for most hard-working Americans. When my patients ask to defer or refuse routine tests because the costs come directly out of their pocket, I realize that these high-deductible plans have gone too far. They are now interfering with care to my patients."

The proposal involved standardized options, which would provide an alternative to high-deductible plans. There would be set standard deductibles, maximum out-of-pocket spending limits, established co-payments or coinsurance for the different services.

Additionally, primary care and specialist visits would not be subject to the deductible in the standard gold- and silver- level plans, nor would prescription medication. Instead, patients would usually have a flat co-payment for the services; for example, a $30 cost for a primary care visit, instead of owing the entire amount until they managed to meet their deductible for the year.

"Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, hundreds of thousands more Ohioans now have health care coverage, many preventive health screenings are now free and no one can be turned away from coverage because of a preexisting medical condition," Brown said. "But too many people -- especially people on high deductible plans -- are still struggling to afford the care they need.

"But as today's report shows," he continued, "standardized health plans can help bring down costs and give Americans more choice in selecting high-quality, affordable health insurance. Cost should never be a barrier to life-saving care, and patients should not have to postpone treatments or services because they haven't met their deductible."

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a rule that would create these standardized plans earlier this year. The plans would be offered on the health care exchange beginning in 2017 in order to help patients make more-informed choices regarding their plans.

A new report issued by Families USA, called "Federal Standardized Plans Could Improve Access to Care without Raising Premiums," found that insurers can offer federal standardized plans with premiums that would be comparable to the current silver marketplace plans which cover little- to no services before the deductible.

Marjorie Moore, executive director of the Scenic Hills Senior Center, often helps the seniors in the center understand their health insurance options. She has seen first-hand how locals in our area are affected by the costs of health care.

"What I do is I enroll people in Medicare part D, which is a drug plan under Medicare," said Moore, explaining that her experience is limited to that area.

"I feel that we have a serious problem when it comes to our seniors with Medicare only because the one's that can't afford an advantage plan because of costs are choosing to forego medication, testing, and even routine care like colonoscopies and mammograms," she continued. "That is the senior aspect of this, but I do believe that Sherrod Brown is on the right track to bring down costs."

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