From: Dearborn Press & Guide

DEARBORN — U.S. Rep. John Dingell told Henry Ford Community College students that new health care legislation will ensure students like them have insurance coverage through their parents, save the government trillions of dollars and ensure people with serious health conditions do not lose their coverage.

Dingell, D-Dearborn, stopped by the college Thursday afternoon to discuss the new health-care law’s benefits for young adults. He told a room with about three dozen people a bit about the law and then fielded questions from those in the audience. Dingell said he was especially fond of HFCC because his granddaughter attends school there.

Under the new legislation, nearly 17,000 young adults in the Detroit area can now get access to health insurance through their parents’ coverage, he said. About two out of every three young adults does not have health insurance.

The health care legislation covered 2,400 pages.

“It has to be that to achieve all we wanted it achieve with health care,” said Dingell, a long-time proponent of health care reform.

The full impact of the changes will not be in place until 2014.

“In an undertaking as vast as this, it takes some time,” Dingell said.

The law is expected to extend coverage to 46 million people. It bars lifetime or annual limits on claims and stresses preventive care including things like vision screenings, immunizations, and cancer screenings, he said.

Insurance companies also cannot deny someone coverage because of a preexisting condition or drop a person for excessive usage.

Two nonpartisan government agencies — the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget — both said the legislation was actuarially sound. It is expected to save the federal government $140 billion over its first 10 years and another $1.4 trillion over the next 10 years, Dingell said.

He corrected one student’s question by noting that unlike Social Security, the federal government will not directly oversee the new programs. States are required to set up their own insurance exchanges, although if they chose not to, a federal exchange may be used.

“This is a change that has to be made for the U.S.,” Dingell said.

Figured as a percent of gross domestic product, health care in the United States costs almost twice what it does in other countries — about 15 percent compared to 8 percent in other countries, he said.

Student Matthew Frederick asked if businesses and individuals will be forced to get coverage or pay fines.

“This will only work if everyone is covered,” Dingell said.

Frederick later returned to the microphone to ask how the bill would affect his former employer. Until he was laid off in November, he was an electrician at a five-person firm. The owner had looked into insurance but said he could not afford it for his employees.

Dingell said such a small business would not be forced to offer insurance.

“But I think he will want to,” Dingell added, noting the federal government would rebate up to 50 percent of the premium costs for small employers.

Offering insurance is a key way to attract and retain quality staff, the congressman said.

Larger companies — Dingell thought the threshold was 50 employees — would have to provide insurance or pay a fine, he said.

The new law is expected to lower the cost of insurance by up to $1,000 a year per person. One reason for the savings is that those who are not insured now and use an emergency room for all their medical care will be able to use less expensive preventive medicine.

One student asked if the new law will make it more difficult for young adults to be independent from their parents.

Dingell asked for a show of hands for how many in the room wanted to be dropped from their parents’ insurance. When no hands went up, he said that independence did not seem to be a problem. Young adults who did want to separate from their parents would have to deal with emancipation laws, which are a state matter, he noted.

He also questioned those who wanted to scrap the entire program because of some perceived problems.

“It’s my approach that if you’ve got a problem you fix it,” he said. The legislation received an extraordinary amount of debate and discussion before it was passed, and many concerns were worked out then. Other problems will undoubtedly arise and legislation can be introduced to fix those issues.

“The last perfect set of laws that came to human society were brought down by Moses and written by the finger of our Lord,” he said.

The health care law also limits insurance companies to profits of 15 percent for large companies to 20 percent for smaller firms.

And it will create a system where medical records are stored electronically so any doctor can access them, thus reducing the need for redundant tests, he said.

The new law will also streamline how doctors are paid, reducing office expenses substantially.

“There are literally hundreds of millions in cost there,” Dingell said.

Another student asked if that would mean medical office losing their jobs.

Dingell said it would, but overall, health care reform will be a boon to the economy by making insurance more affordable for everyone.

Dingell also assured students that the bill will not force people to do what they should, for example using preventative care or getting vaccinations.

“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. In this country, the Constitution does not allow us to force someone to do something,” he said.

While some states may require vaccines, the federal legislation does not, he said.

He also assured students that the legislation does not include any additional taxes on unhealthy products.

“We are taxing the daylights out of cigarettes as you know,” he said.

Read this at the Dearborn Press & Guide