Volume 18, No. 2, Spring 2010

CAPITOL HILL REPORT

Health Bill Seen Yielding Swift Results And Avoiding Worsening Crisis

By Congressman Bill Delahunt

Over the past year, health insurance reform has dominated the agenda here in Washington, and culminated with the signing of a landmark law that not only curbs widespread abuses in the health insurance industry but expands access to affordable healthcare.

The health insurance crisis facing our nation was serious. The high costs of insurance policies have been bankrupting families and threatening the budgets of government at every level. Not to mention an estimated 45,000 deaths annually of people unable to obtain proper care because they did not have health insurance.

We simply could not afford to pass up this opportunity to address this dire situation that healthcare experts warned would only get worse.

 The health insurance reforms just enacted into law will end some of the worst industry abuses, help control costs and reduce our deficit.

In fact, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the law will yield a net reduction in federal deficits of $118 billion over the 2010–2019 period. In the second 10 years, it is estimated the bill will reduce the deficit by between $650 billion and $1.3 trillion.

Some provisions of the bill will begin to take effect in the short term. I have summarized some of the key points below:

This legislation is not perfect, but it brings us many steps closer toward providing affordable, quality, and stable health coverage and care for all Americans.