On Saturday November 7, 2009 the Affordable Health Care for America Act was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Benefits to the Bleeding Disorder Community:
- Lifetime Caps: Will be eliminated in all insurance plans in 2010.
- Pre-Existing Conditions: Exclusions beginning in 2010, with their total elimination in 2013;
- Community Rating: It will be impossible to preclude insurers from rating based on health status;
- Dependent Coverage: Extension of dependent coverage through age 26;
- Recissions: Insurance companies will not be allowed to drop people from their coverage after they have submitted high claims.
- Regulatory Pathway: U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve biosimilars; and
- Federal Infrastructure:Support comparative effectiveness research, including a patient ombudsman who will serve as the liaison between patients and researchers.
For more information on the policy and politics of health reform, please visit NHF's healthcare reform page.
