Rep. Hank Johnson: Millions of Americans Already Benefiting from Affordable Care Act

Statement

Dear Friends,

One year after the Patient's Bill of Rights in the Affordable Care Act went into effect, millions of Americans are already benefiting from the law.

In fact, September 23rd was the First Anniversary of the Patient's Bill of Rights in the Affordable Care Act, and millions of Americans are benefiting from the improved coverage and lower costs provided by the law.

The protections of the Patient's Bill of Rights became effective for all plan years beginning on or after September 23, 2010. That means one year later all Americans with private health plans are now receiving the protections of the Bill of Rights.

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The Affordable Care Act, which became law last year, has put Americans and their families, not the health insurance companies, back in charge of their health care. The Act is already improving the lives of Americans, including young adults, children with pre-existing conditions, owners of small businesses, and seniors, along with all of the 165 million Americans who have private insurance.

Under the Patient's Bill of Rights, if you are one of the 165 million Americans with private insurance, you are now receiving the following protections:

► You can no longer be arbitrarily dropped from coverage by your insurance company simply because you get sick.

► Your insurance company can no longer place a lifetime limit on your coverage.

► Your insurance company can no longer place low annual limits on your coverage.

► If you are under age 65 and in a new plan, you are now receiving free key preventive services.

In addition, because of the Patient's Bill of Rights:

► If you are a young adult, you can now stay on your parents' health plan until your 26th birthday, if you do not have coverage of your own. Because of this provision, one million additional young people -- or an increase of 3.5% -- have gained coverage over the last year.

► If you have a child under age 19, they can no longer be denied coverage by an insurance company for having a "pre-existing condition. Up to 17 million children with pre-existing conditions are now protected from discrimination.

In addition to the Patient's Bill of Rights, the Affordable Care Act also provided new Medicare benefits for America's seniors, which became effective on January 1, 2011.

These new Medicare benefits include the following:

► Seniors are now receiving a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs when they are in the Medicare Part D "donut hole' coverage gap. Nearly 1.3 million seniors have already received the discount.

► Seniors are now receiving free key preventive health services, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, under Medicare. Nearly 19 million seniors have already received one or more free preventive services.

► Seniors are now receiving a free Annual Wellness Visit under Medicare. 1.3 million Seniors have already taken advantage of the new free Annual Wellness Visit.

Finally, for small businesses, the Affordable Care Act is providing tax credits of up to 35 percent of employer premium contributions for those small businesses that choose to offer coverage. The tax credits became effective beginning for tax year 2010. There are up to 4 million small businesses that are eligible for this tax credit.

These new protections and benefits are crucial to improving the lives of millions of Americans. Congressional Republicans are attempting to repeal all of these protections, but I will vigorously fight to ensure that they are never taken away.

Thanks,

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