HUFFINGTON
08.19.12
PROGNOSIS UNCLEAR
who are currently uninsured,
who can gain enormously from
the Affordable Care Act, aren’t
aware of it,” said Ron Pollack,
the executive director of Families USA, a Washington-based
advocacy organization that used
its hefty advertising and lobbying budget, as well as its nationwide grassroots network, to
help pass the health care law.
“There’s got to be a huge and
effective public education, outreach and advertising campaign,”
said Pollack, who is on the board
of Enroll America, a coalition of
health care industry groups and
nonprofit organizations that will
spend tens of millions of dollars
educating the public about the
law’s new benefits.
A massive and well-coordinated effort has to be ready to
go by next October, when small
businesses and individuals who
don’t get insurance at work can
begin shopping for plans — and
will learn whether they’re eligible for financial assistance.
People who earn up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level,
which is $14,856 this year, will
qualify for Medicaid coverage.
Those who earn up to 400 percent, which is $44,680 in 2012,
can get tax credits to help pay
for private insurance. Some
small companies also will qualify for tax credits.
WILL INSURANCE COMPANIES SELL
PLANS THE HEALTHY WILL BUY?
One of the main reasons for enacting health care reform was to
end health insurance company
practices that excluded people
with pre-existing conditions or
made them pay exorbitant premiums, overcharged women and
“The vast majority
of people who are
currently uninsured,
who can gain enormously from the
Affordable Care Act,
aren’t aware of it.
We’ve got to
reach them all.”