Can I Keep My Current Health Plan With The New Reform Bill?
On March 23, 2010, Barack Obama signed the controversial health care reform bill into law after a year-long, contentious battle over its provisions. One of the issues raised during the numerous debates and protests sparked by the reform bill was the fate of those who already have health insurance coverage, either on their own or through an employer or other group. “Can I keep my current health plan with the new reform bill?” was one of the most-asked questions at town hall meetings, despite the President’s repeated assurances that “If you like your current health plan, you can keep it.”
The Facts About Your Current Health Plan Under the New Reform Bill
Under the provisions of the health care bill, you must carry health insurance. If you already have health insurance through your employer, through another group, or bought on the individual market, you will not have to purchase a different kind of insurance, or have to give up your current health insurance. The bill includes a “grandfather clause” that excepts currently existing health insurance policies from any changes required by the new bill–as long as there are no changes made to its terms and conditions.
Your Current Plan And The Health Insurance Exchange
The new reform bill establishes a health insurance exchange where anyone who can not get health insurance through an employer or other group and who does not qualify for Medicaid or Medicare can purchase health insurance. Any health insurance plan offered on the exchange must meet certain standards. Any new plans offered outside the exchange must also meet those standards in order to be meet the requirement of having health insurance under this law. As long as your employer or health insurance company continues to offer your current health care plan unchanged, you can keep your current health care plan as it is.
Bottom Line: Can I Keep My Current Health Plan With The New Reform Bill?
As long as your current insurance provider offers your current health plan without changes, you can keep your current health plan. If the insurance provider makes significant changes to the plan or adds more members to it, the provider must change the plan to meet the standards of the health insurance plans offered on the health insurance exchange.
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