Latinos need healthcare reform

Behind The Healthcare Reform Act
The Latino Journal E-News, August 24, 2009

Part 3 of 3

The America's Affordable Health Choices Act is a 1017 page proposed legislation that is requiring Legislators to attend workshops so they can learn what it does. Although the Act would not be implemented until 2013, it is a necessity and beneficial to Latinos. As mentioned we have been looking at the pros and cons of this legislation and in this issue we present the pros from a Latino perspective:

Provisions of the Healthcare Act:
1. Coverage and Choice
The Act says it will protect current coverage and allow individuals to keep the insurance they have if they like it - and preserves choice of doctors, hospitals, and health plans. Each year thousands of individuals and families are denied coverage by insurance companies, contributing greatly to the 45 million who are not or can not be insured in America today. The act will ensure that those who are not or cannot be covered, will be covered, regardless of pre-existing medical conditions. If an individual already has insurance, there will be no change.

2. Affordability
It will cap annual out-of-pocket spending, create competition among healthcare insurance providers, expands Medicaid, and improves Medicare. This Act will make insurances more affordable by creating competition, something the insurance companies have been fighting because that would cut into their price fixing. It would reduce the paperwork and patients will have a good understanding of what will and will not be covered.

3. Shared Responsibility
The bill creates shared responsibility among individuals, employers and government to ensure that all Americans have affordable coverage of essential health benefits. By spreading the costs among all groups, it will minimize the cost of providing healthcare to all Americans. In addition it will ensure that rate increases are discussed and commensurate with cost of living increases. It will especially help small businesses who currently are unable to cover their employees.

4. Prevention and Wellness
This includes a focus on community based program and new data collection to better identify and address racial, ethnic, regional and other health disparities and funds to strengthen state, local, tribal and territorial public health departments and programs. This is crucial for providing appropriate healthcare for everyone. Understanding cancer clusters, cultural habits and even indigenous beliefs are essential to understand and prescribe effective treatment. Finally, it would create opportunities to minimize if not erradicate certain illnesses among ethnic groups.

5. Workforce Investments
It will expand health care workforce and expand scholarships and loans for individuals in needed professions and shortage areas. This would include training of nurses to work in triage environments, and expand the recruitment and employment of Latinos in the medical and pharmaceudical fields. It will expand coverage into rural areas which are in dire need of medical professionals. Poor and farm worker Latinos would greatly benefit from this effort.

6. Controlling Costs
The bill will reduce the growth in health care spending as it is implemented. Healthcare spending has been under private insurance control, which has allowed to become unaffordable. By establishing a medical board, controls will be instilled in pricing.

The Latino Journal E-News wants to hear your views and encourage you to write to us. You can email your comments to: latinojournal@gmail.com.