Reform already showing benefit
Health care reform already has positively impacted lives in these three “good news” stories:
1) My 82-year-old mother recently chose a Medicare plan that saves her money on the premium, prescriptions, office visits and any hospital stay, not merely duplicating Medicare services, at a much higher price, as the one she looked at five years earlier.
2) I received a letter from my self-pay insurance, informing me that I no longer have the lifetime maximum on my policy! I had been very concerned about this issue. We have a friend on the brink of bankruptcy as a result of a sudden illness that resulted in three weeks in intensive care, that took her medical expense beyond the lifetime maximum. People have no idea this can occur, though an illness can take them to this tragic circumstance.
3) My husband had a self-pay major medical policy that had tripled the premium (to $1200 per month), yet had never paid a claim on him. The state of Tennessee recently allowed him to apply in the high risk pool, with a reasonable premium. He will be covered beginning Feb. 1, 2011!