How federal health care reform will impact Wisconsin

Health care. It is one of the most basic needs for all citizens, yet there are citizens who do not have access to quality care for various reasons.

In response to this need, the federal government enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act last month to help those vulnerable citizens get coverage.

There have been many who criticize the merits - and the legality - of this set of bills. In particular, Wisconsin Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen requested permission from state leaders to join with other state attorney generals to file suit contesting the constitutionality of the bills.

However, most agree these bills will make sweeping changes across the nation with effects varying depending on each state.

For example, while Wisconsin has always been a leader in health care, Department of Health Services spokesperson Seth Boffeli said the state will still need to make adjustments to meet the new national health care standards.

The bills

The House of Representatives first passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act in November 2009 as a means of reforming the U.S. health care system, but this bill did not make it past the Senate. Instead, the Senate crafted the PPACA, which the House then passed, along with the HCERA to amend parts of the PPACA.

The PPACA prohibits insurance companies from rating customers based on preexisting health conditions or current health status, and it set up a national "health insurance exchange" where qualifying insurance companies can be listed on a marketplace for consumers to browse the best coverage option.

This bill also forms a public health insurance option to ensure competition, allow for unmarried older children to stay on their parents’ insurance up to age 26 and offer small businesses and low-income residents tax credits to help them afford coverage.

The HCERA also makes such amendments to the PPACA as increasing tax credits to buy insurance, closing the Medicare Part D coverage gap, giving seniors a $250 rebate and having the government pay the total costs of Medicaid expansion from 2014 until 2016, when the percentage will decrease incrementally to 90 percent after 2019.

"As I looked across the well of the House, I saw so many of my colleagues tearing up because I think like me they sense the … history of this vote, the history of this moment," U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. said in a video statement following the PPACA floor vote.

However, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. did not share Baldwin's opinion of the bills and criticized the government's "power grab" during the March 21 floor debate.

"Health care affects each and every one of us. It is the most personal thing there is. And yet, here we are debating whether the government should have a bigger role in making those decisions," Ryan said.

For more information please visit: http://badgerherald.com/news/2010/04/28/how_federal_health_c.php