Progress In America – Important Health Care Provisions Go Into Effect Today!

Steve Benen covers this subject very well, go read it here or enjoy an extended piece below. I, for one, understood all along that these provisions alone made the Health Care Reform bill worthwhile. I am still angry at the people who attempted to undermine this compromise bill for their own selfish reasons, not giving a shit about the children who benefit, the people with pre-existing conditions and those young Americans 26 and under who can’t afford to buy insurance on their own. This is monumental and will go down in history as a crowning achievement for President Obama and his administration, long after the critics are forgotten about. Real people benefit from this, that is the bottom line. Now I’m sure the haters and nitpickers will jump all over this post and spout the same bullshit they did during the battle, but it won’t change the fact that real people are going to benefit starting today. Hooray for President Obama!! From Benen…

The New York Times‘ Kevin Sack noted that a number of the new law’s “most central consumer protections take effect” this very day, and the list includes some very popular reforms. Starting today, for example, insurers won’t be able to exclude children from coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Rescission, which led to many Americans losing their coverage when they needed it most, is forbidden. Young people can now stay on their parents’ plan until age 26. Preventive care — including colonoscopies, mammograms, and immunizations — must now be covered without co-payments.

Republicans intend to take all of this away, of course, and will fight tooth and nail next year if voters reward them with a majority.

But in the meantime, the Affordable Care Act has begun making life better for some struggling Americans who need a break.

Joe and Mary Thompson had agreed to adopt Emily before her birth in 1999, and it never occurred to them to back out when she was born with spina bifida. But that same year, their residential remodeling business in Overland Park, Kan., went under, prompting job changes that left the family searching for health coverage with a child who was uninsurable.

The insurers were willing to cover the Thompsons and their older daughter, but not Emily, who was later discovered to have mild autism as well, or her 13-year-old brother, who had a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder.

Starting Thursday, the insurers will not be able to do that, as the new health care law prohibits them from denying coverage to children under 19 because of pre-existing health conditions. In 2014, the change will extend to people of all ages.

More change is coming people, as long as Republicans don’t lie their way into power in the congress. VOTE DEMOCRATIC AND ENCOURAGE YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO DO THE SAME. My recommendation to fire you up, go look at a Youtube clip of George W. Bush as a reminder of what Republicans brought us for 8 long, painful, horrifying years.