Healthcare reform has been a hot topic recently. Since the bill has passed, America
Before we begin, I have to let you know that the entire healthcare bill is not in effect as of yet. It will take years to get the entire bill effective but a few parts of the bill will be implemented in January 2011. This part of the bill will affect MOST, but not ALL plans. You have to check with your insurance to find out if it will affect you. With that said, let us begin:
First, Kids can be covered under their parents insurance until the age of 26. What they didn’t tell you that it doesn’t matter if your child is married, single, living with you, living on his own, dependent, or not. If you gave birth to that ungrateful runt, you can keep him/her on your insurance. But don’t tell them unless you like them. If they are annoying and aren’t worth the extra money, let them fend for themselves.
In the past, insurance companies had something called a “lifetime maximum”. This is the maximum amount of money that an insurance company would spend on someone. After you reach that maximum, you could be dropped from the insurance. The lifetime maximum has been removed from plans so there is no longer a maximum amount of money insurance companies can spend for your services. Same rules apply about only insuring the people you like.
Also, preventative screenings will be covered by insurance companies at 100%. You don’t even have to pay a co pay. Keep in mind that most screenings are only covered once a year (physicals, mammograms, pap smears). Don’t go to the doctor’s office 3-4 times a year asking for a “physical” just to come in and be seen for something else. They will not pay for it. And for that matter, just tell us what you want when you call. If you think you got an STD, just tell the receptionist "I think I have an STD". Trust me, they don’t care. It makes no sense for me to come into the room thinking you just got a headache and you really just been nasty. STOP BEING NASTY!!!!! Now I got to step out of the room and tell the nurse to prep you for STD swabs when all of that could have been handled before you got there. (That had nothing to do with healthcare reform, I was just venting so when you call for your appointment, just say what you want)
Lastly, you can no longer buy Over-The-Counter (OTC) medications with your Flexible Spending Account (FSA). This will piss off quite a few pharmacist and providers because you will now need a prescription in order to get OTC meds. This means more prescriptions for us to write and more prescriptions for pharmacist to fill. Imagine going to the doctor to get a prescription for Nyquil. You may have to because most doctors will offset this new headache by making patients come in to be seen in order to get the prescription. So, is it really cheaper to pay a co pay or a bill just to use your FSA on OTC meds? If anything, it would be better to not add money to your FSA for OTC medications. I think maybe that is what the government wants. The more money you don’t add to your FSA, the more money the government can tax. Makes sense to me.
So, we know what the new bill will provide for us. In Part 2, I will explain how some insurance companies are trying to offset the new costs. Here is a hint, They aren’t eating it…………They’re passing it.
