If you are interested in Health Care Reform, from whichever side, this is an interesting article from New Yorker Magazine, that may address some misgivings.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...?currentPage=1

The Parkinson's Action Network sent out an email about the new legislation this morning.

They will be providing more information as it becomes available.

Jaye

10 THINGS EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HEALTH CARE REFORM
1. Once reform is fully implemented, over 95% of Americans will have health insurance coverage, including 32 million who are currently uninsured.2
2. Health insurance companies will no longer be allowed to deny people coverage because of preexisting conditions—or to drop coverage when people become sick.3
3. Just like members of Congress, individuals and small businesses who can't afford to purchase insurance on their own will be able to pool together and choose from a variety of competing plans with lower premiums.4
4. Reform will cut the federal budget deficit by $138 billion over the next ten years, and a whopping $1.2 trillion in the following ten years.5
5. Health care will be more affordable for families and small businesses thanks to new tax credits, subsidies, and other assistance—paid for largely by taxing insurance companies, drug companies, and the very wealthiest Americans.6
6. Seniors on Medicare will pay less for their prescription drugs because the legislation closes the "donut hole" gap in existing coverage.7
7. By reducing health care costs for employers, reform will create or save more than 2.5 million jobs over the next decade.8
8. Medicaid will be expanded to offer health insurance coverage to an additional 16 million low-income people.9
9. Instead of losing coverage after they leave home or graduate from college, young adults will be able to remain on their families' insurance plans until age 26.10
10. Community health centers would receive an additional $11 billion, doubling the number of patients who can be treated regardless of their insurance or ability to pay.11

As Merrill Goozner noted in a recent article, the acute impetus for health care reform this time around was the decrease in employer based coverage for workers. The decrease was from 69% coverage to 63% during period of2000 to 2007, leaving many working individuals without insurance and unable to sustain the incredibly high premiums for themselves and their families.

10 Things With Health Care Reform (couple repeats from pkell's posting)

1.Insurance companies can no longer impose lifetime coverage limits on your insurance.
2.Annual cap on benefits is "sharply" limited, and eliminated in 2014.
3.Insurers must cover children with pre existing conditions.
4.There willl be a program to assist adults with pre existing conditions obtain coverage; in 2014 "exchanges" from pooling businesses" and individual"s contributions will provide for coverage of adults with preexisting conditions.
5.Insurers are not allowed to drop anyone when they become ill..the "recissions" presently practiced by insurance companies must cease.
6, Coverage for offspring under parents' insurance plans until age 26.
7.$250 dollare for seniors for "donut hole" coverage. In 9 months, 50% of donut hole will be covered; plan is elimination of donut hole eventually.
8.For Medicare, coverage for yearly visits to physicians for "preventative care" without co pays.
9.Small businesses offerring health insurance to workers will receive big tax credits. Credits up to 50% of premium costs will be provided.
10. insurers with very high administrative costs must offer rebates to their customers. And each insurance company must "reveal how much it spends on overhead".
http://www.alternet.org/story/146134...th_care_reform