March 23 marked the first anniversary of the health care reform law — The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). A March poll by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation reveals people remain confused about how the law will affect them.
However, most want to preserve those provisions already in effect, including allowing adults younger than 26 to keep or join their parents’ health insurance plan, no lifetime caps on insurance coverage, no denial of insurance coverage for children because of a pre-existing condition, tax credits to small businesses and closing the Medicare "doughnut hole.”
Future areas that get public approval: Insurance companies will no longer drop people from coverage if they become sick; and the law provides financial help for low- and moderate-income Americans in need of coverage. Nearly 20 percent of Greensboro residents are uninsured, and Cone Health Foundation works daily to help them find health care. While the ACA is far from perfect, it goes a long way to provide new health care rights, choices, prevention and protections that promote health. For more information, see http://www.kff.org/ or http://www.healthcare.gov/.
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