Читать книгу The Legacy of Obama's Achievements - U.S. Government - Страница 9

 Prohibited coverage denials and reduced benefits due to pre-existing conditions

 Eliminated lifetime and annual limits on insurance coverage and established annual limits on out-of-pocket spending on essential health benefits

 Required health plans to cover dependent children up to age 26

 Prohibited retroactive cancellation of policies, except in the case of fraud, eliminating the practice of people developing costly illnesses and then losing their coverage

 Expanded Medicaid to all previously ineligible adults with incomes under 133 percent of the federal poverty level with unprecedented federal support (the Supreme Court directed that this expansion be at the discretion of states)

 Established a system of state and federal health insurance exchanges or marketplaces to make it easier for individuals and small-business employees to purchase health plans at affordable prices

 Simplified health choices by requiring individual and small business plans to offer four standard categories at various costs, plus a catastrophic option for people under age 30 and people who cannot otherwise afford coverage

 Established individual responsibility by requiring all Americans who can afford insurance coverage to purchase it or pay a fee

 Established employer responsibility under which mid-size and large companies provide health coverage to their workers or contribute to their coverage through a fee

 Ensured individual and small business health plans include essential health benefits, covering emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, preventive care such as annual physicals, and more

 Simplified eligibility and enrollment requirements in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

 Expanded Community Health Centers and incentives for primary care providers to practice in the communities that need them most

 Created a new FDA approval pathway to advance biosimilars, which offer the potential to lower treatment costs for patients on high-cost biologics

 Provided new home- and community-based options for elderly and disabled Americans who require long-term care services

 Introduced new coverage options and other improvements for Native Americans through an improved Indian Health Service

 Created a temporary reinsurance program to sustain group coverage for early retirees prior to 2014 reforms

 Created a temporary high-risk pool program to cover uninsured people with pre-existing conditions prior to 2014 reforms

 Created health plan disclosure requirements and simple, standardized summaries so consumers can evaluate coverage information and compare benefits

 Provided funding for a voluntary home-visiting program to support mothers and young children in underserved communities

 Covered HIV screening for millions without additional cost and prohibited discrimination due to pre-existing conditions like HIV

 Created a new funding pool for Community Health Centers to build, expand and operate health-care facilities in underserved communities

 Expanded health provider training opportunities, with an emphasis on primary care, including a significant expansion of the National Health Service Corps

 Improved policy and extended funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides coverage for millions of low-income children, in 2009 and extended those policies in 2015