Congressman Mike Thompson says the new health reform legislation will offer many benefits. Courtesy photo.

It’s been a long and complicated process, but Americans are finally going to see some results from the protracted battle over health care reform.

On March 21, the House passed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

With all of the partisan sniping and fear mongering, many have lost sight of the main goal of health care reform: to improve ordinary American’s access to quality, affordable health care. And this legislation is an historic, important step forward for our country that will have an immediate impact for all Americans.

When the president signed this bill into law on March 23, insurance companies were immediately stopped from dropping your coverage when you get sick.

The new law also immediately bans insurers from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. Adults who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition will be able to buy affordable coverage.

New private insurance plans are required to cover preventive services and immunizations with no co-payments. Young people will be able to stay on their parents’ insurance until their 26th birthday. And small businesses that provide coverage to their employees are eligible for a tax credit of up to 35 percent of premiums.

Seniors will also see immediate benefits from this bill.

Some Medicare beneficiaries currently fall into the “donut hole,” the gap in coverage which forces seniors to pay out of pocket for their medications. These folks will get a rebate of up to $250, which is just a start – once the bill is fully implemented, the “donut hole” will be closed, and seniors won’t have to go broke paying for their medicine.

The legislation also requires coverage of prevention and wellness benefits, an annual wellness visit and immunizations under Medicare with no out-of-pocket cost.

Under this bill, more primary care doctors, nurses, and public health professionals will be educated. The bill also includes increased funding for community health centers – allowing them to almost double the amount of patients they treat over the next five years.

Once the entire bill goes into effect in 2014, it will make an even bigger impact.

It will expand access to insurance to more than 95 percent of our country, giving more than 32 million people who are currently uninsured access to affordable coverage.

It will end the hidden tax all insured individuals currently pay to cover the cost of uninsured people’s emergency room visits. Insurers will be prohibited from denying coverage or setting rates based on preexisting conditions, medical conditions, genetic information or evidence of domestic violence.

All plans must provide a benefits package that meets a minimum standard, with limits on how much you will have to pay for co-pays and deductibles.

To help people afford care, there will be tax credits available for low- and middle-income families.

The bill is paid for and will reduce our budget deficit over the first 10 years by $143 billion and by $1.2 trillion in the next decade. These aren’t my numbers, but the savings calculated by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Seniors will get greater relief once the entire bill is implemented. Middle income seniors will get a 50-percent discount on brand name drugs. Remember, the “donut hole” will be closed entirely by 2019. And the Medicare program, which provides so many important services to seniors, will have its solvency extended by nine years.

To reduce the cost of health care, the bill will set up tested programs to bend the cost curve and improve quality of care. For example, value-based purchasing, which means paying doctors for the quality of care rather than the quantity of services they provide will be implemented to bring down costs.

And we’ll set up pilot programs to test ideas like accountable care organizations, where a team of doctors work together to provide high quality care, and are rewarded as a team if they are effective at bringing down costs.

If this and other pilot projects are effective, Medicare is authorized to implement these reforms quickly on a broad scale.

This new law isn’t perfect. Reforming health care is an ongoing process and won’t be completed with the passage of one bill.

But, by passing this bill into law, millions of Americans will be able to afford to go to the doctor, and they will be able to get the treatments they need without bankrupting themselves or our country. And that’s what matters.

Congressman Mike Thompson represents California's First Congressional District, which includes Lake County, in the US House of Representatives.

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