As the Senate and House continue to work on health care reform legislation, and as town hall-style meetings on the nation's health care have turned occasionally raucous, the Obama Administration is working hard to promote the benefits of reform.

President Obama recently addressed the nation concerning health care reform, saying it is critical to the U.S.'s long-term economic strength and an improvement on the status quo.

The President also addressed the rumors surrounding aspects of the reform legislation, "...let me start by dispelling the outlandish rumors that reform will promote euthanasia, cut Medicaid, or bring about a government takeover of health care. That's simply not true," Obama stated. "This isn't about putting government in charge of your health insurance; it's about putting you in charge of your health insurance. Under the reforms we seek, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan."

[The White House has recently set up a new web page, http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/, which is intended to refute several myths and charges from critics.]

The President went on to say that with reform, insurance companies will be required to cover routine checkups and preventive care, prevent denial of coverage because of a person's medical history. Reform measures will also limit how much one can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, and eliminate arbitrary caps on the amount of coverage received in a given year or a lifetime.

"This is about people's lives. This is about people's businesses," Obama concluded in his remarks. "This is about America's future. That's what is at stake. That's why health insurance reform is so important. And that's why we must get this done -- and why we will get this done -- by the end of this year."

A New HHS Report

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) now has a new report entitled "Coverage Denied: How the Current Health Insurance System Leaves Millions Behind." In this report, HHS reviews insurance company practices of denying coverage to Americans who have pre-existing medical conditions. According to a press release on HHS's website, a recent national survey found that 12.6 million non-elderly adults (36 percent of those who attempted to buy private insurance) were discriminated against by an insurance company through an ineligibility determination on the basis of a pre-existing condition, being charged a higher premium, or refusal to cover their condition. The HHS says another survey reports one in ten people with cancer stated they could not get health coverage, and six percent report losing their coverage due to their diagnosis.

"Under health insurance reform, insurance companies would be prohibited from refusing coverage based on someone's medical history or health risk," the press release states. "Companies would also be barred from watering down coverage or refusing renewal because someone becomes sick. Companies would have to renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays the premium in full."

The new report is available at http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/denied_coverage/index.html.

And check out AMA's new health care system reform bulletin:
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/advocacy/health-system-reform.shtml

Adapted from press releases by HHS and the White House, AMA.

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