Health care reforms insurance, taxes for Wisconsin

On  March 21 the House of Representatives voted 219-211 to pass the Senate version of the health care bill. President Obama signed the bill into law on March 23.

The House version of the bill was passed on Nov. 8, 2009 with a 220-215 vote, and the Senate version was passed on Dec. 24, 2009 on a 60-39 vote. 

Under normal circumstances, the House and the Senate would have formed a joint committee to work out the differences between the House and the Senate versions of the bill.  Then the Senate and the House would each approve the new amended bill and it would then go to the President for his signature.

In this instance, circumstances were not normal.

If the House of Representatives had wanted to propose changes to the Senate's bill, those changes would have gone back to the Senate.  The Senate Democrats would have needed 60 votes, again, to pass the amended bill. 

The problem for the Democrats was that Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) died in August, 2009.  The original Senate bill was passed when Sen. Kennedy's temporary replacement, Paul G. Kirk, Jr., was in office.

On Jan. 19, 2010, Scott Brown, a Republican, won the special election in Massachusetts to finish Sen. Kennedy's term.  Now the Democrats were assured of only 59 votes, not enough to prevent a filibuster in the Senate.

So the House Democrats chose a different course of action.  They passed the Senate version of the health care bill even though it included things they didn't like.  It would then be signed by President Obama and become law.

They then put the proposed changes in a new bill to amend the new health care law. This bill was then sent to the Senate for their approval. However, it was sent in a way that allowed the Democrats to be assured of passage even though they thought they only had 59 votes.

The bill was sent over as a Reconciliation Bill. This is a special kind of bill that can only be used for bills that impact the federal budget.  Under the Byrd rule, named after Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.), a reconciliation bill needs only 51 votes to prevent a filibuster.

The Senate passed the bill. The bill went back to the House because the Senate had corrected a few minor mistakes. The House approved the corrected bill and sent it on to President Obama for his signature. The President was scheduled to sign the bill into law on March 30.

What does the Health Care bill mean for Wisconsin?

"Ninety-eight percent of people in Wisconsin have access to insurance of some kind," Karen Timberlake, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, said on a recent interview with Wisconsin Public Radio.

As the various parts of the new law are implemented, 32 million people who are now uninsured will be covered. Most of these people will be covered sometime after 2014.
Eventually 95 percent of all Americans will be covered, up from the 83 percent who are covered now, but still not as high as the 98 percent coverage Wisconsin already has.

The new health care law mandates changes that will increase the number of people who are covered by health insurance and make health care coverage more comprehensive.
Some changes will take effect in 2010, while others will not take effect until 2014.

A number of changes will take place this year. The IRS will give tax breaks to small businesses that provide their workers with health insurance. Medicare will gradually close the doughnut hole in prescription drug coverage, beginning this year.
College students may be happy that parents may now keep their children on their insurance policies until they turn 27.

Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to children with preexisting conditions or drop coverage on people who become sick. Lifetime limits on benefits are no longer allowed.

Preventative care must be covered by insurance policies.

Insurance companies must use at least 80 percent of all revenues on health care.
The changes in health care in Wisconsin will not be as dramatic as in other states because many Wisconsin residents are covered by one of the BadgerCare programs.These are Medicare programs that most states won't have under the new health care law until 2014.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Web site, BadgerCare is an insurance plan for families with dependent children, and BadgerCare Plus Core Plan is an insurance plan that provides access to health care services for uninsured adults with no dependent children.

Enrollment in the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan was suspended on Oct. 9, 2009 because the federal government put a limit on the number of people who could benefit from this program. People could still apply, but they would be put on a waiting list.

The legislature is now considering a new program: BadgerCare Plus Basic. If the new law is enacted, those on the BadgerCare Plus Core Plan waiting list will be able to purchase very limited insurance coverage at reduced, group rates.

 Unmarried children under the age of 27 can be included on their parents health insurance policy in Wisconsin.

"The statute goes into effect for health insurance policies issued or renewed beginning on Jan. 1, 2010," Gov. Jim Doyle said in a Oct. 29, 2009 news release.